“Whoever turns pressure into petrol will win”

The Rome-Lazio derby of the capital returns on Sunday evening. “It’s a special match regardless of how differently the two teams arrive at it. Lazio is having an excellent championship and wants to confirm itself, while Roma, on the other hand, is coming out of a tunnel with their latest good performances and will try to make a comeback – he explains to Adnkronos Salute Pietro Bussotti, sports psychologist and coordinator of Sports Psychology of the Order of Psychologists of Umbria – The Rome football derby is loaded with symbolic meanings, expectations and pressures on the part of the two fans, the Lazio fans want city supremacy and the Roman fans want an important victory that establishes the exit from the tunnel. However – he underlines – a team is not only made up of those who take the field, but of the technical staff. Managing the players’ emotions is also the responsibility of the coach and his staffwhich guide and direct sporting performance and partly also psychological performance”.

“So – analyzes the psychologist – this derby pits those who want revenge against those who want Rome’s football supremacywith ambivalent emotions that we can indicate as adaptive and maladaptive. The former help us respond to environmental stimuli and sporting performance depends on how we process these emotions. Pressure-related anxiety can become maladaptive and paralyze the athlete away from performance. While the derby will be played on who can be adaptive towards emotions and transform them into ‘fuel’ on the pitch. The difference lies precisely in this management and direction of the state of mind.”

He is on the Roma bench Claudio Ranieriwho returned to save the team from the depths of the rankings after De Rossi’s dismissal and Juric’s unfortunate adventure. “He has experienced many derbies in the capital as a player and coach, this counts – warns Bussotti – Experience allows you to manage these special matches, refines the ability to learn and process emotions in an adaptive way, transforming them into determination. Then of course every match it’s made up of episodes, there’s also a lucky shot or an own goal that can compromise match plans.”

And the fans who will be at the Olimpico? How will they experience the match of the year in Rome? “The fan was born to suffer and doesn’t have fun if he doesn’t suffer, they are ‘Leopardians’ if we want – the psychologist comments – Their desire for their favorite team to win also makes them feel bad, then if you win you feel relieved precisely because you were bad a moment before. It’s a match full of expectations, anxiety and tension even in the stands, always with mutual respect.”

But on the field who will win in the end? “Who will be able to manage emotions and pressures in an adaptive way”, repeats Bussotti who does not go too far on the final result. We’ll see on Sunday evening.