The great book of the Rome derby

“In the end it will never be a match like any other”. Opponents on the pitch but friends in normal life Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta for years have represented the true essence of the derby which on Sunday 20 March will see Lazio and Rome compete in the 158th edition of the league. That of the Roman derby is a very long story with so many anecdotes that “The great book of the Rome derby”, written by Fabio Argentini and Luigi Panella, tells in great detail as no one had ever done until today, in a text that can be consider a real encyclopedia of Roman derby towns. The prefaces by Nesta and Totti embellish the text. “I grew up with Lazio”, explains Nesta. “Many years with that shirt on. I have good and bad memories of the derby: because the battles on the pitch are a bit like the mirror of life, you win and lose “. To echo the words of Francesco Totti: “I have many photographs of my football derbies, one I even took with my mobile phone after a goal. Over the years I have learned that the derby is a roulette and knows no rules: it lives on nerves and episodes “. A work of almost three hundred pages, published by Ultra, which tells over ninety years of battles between Rome and Lazio. An incredible story that unfolds through images of extraordinary suggestion, telling every detail of a challenge that certainly does not stop on Sunday, but compares two fans who share the same territory despite being so different from each other. everything: emotions and matches (all scores), identities and adventures to tell, players and stadiums. Three hundred pages of stories, unpublished photos, anecdotes, stories: an unprecedented experience, an unrepeatable journey to the heart of the capital. The book, which reports the chronicle of all the derbies played up to the present day, also outlines the typical characteristics, the identity and the different stories of Rome and Lazio and of the fans, so different while sharing the same territory. And it explores the history of shirts, colors, social coats of arms and all the aspects that characterize Roman societies. Not failing to tell the other main derbies that are played in Italy, in Europe and in the world. And when Rome, before 1927, the date of foundation of the Giallorossi club, was like London and, fighting for the primacy of the city, there were dozens of teams.The book, the result of teamwork, is enriched by the introduction of a long-time journalist, Italo Cucci who in his career has told many derbies.