Roma's bizarre 3-3 draw with Austria Vienna in the Europa League on Thursday night was notable for two things: firstly, the time-honoured Giallorosso collapse when two goals to the good, throwing away a deserved, Francesco Totti-inspired 3-1 lead in two maddening second half minutes; secondly, the pitiful crowd of around 16,500, which apart from the boisterous 2,000 away supporters rattled silently around the Stadio Olimpico like painted fans in a Subbuteo stadium.
The noise and smoke made by the Vienna fans was a sad reminder of the raucous atmosphere that used to accompany Roma's home matches, when the massed standing ranks in the Curva Sud provided the pulsing heart of one of Europe's most colourful venues.
Its role in driving forward the home team was never more apparent than during the supposedly less glamorous matches (like Thursday's one) when a visit from one of Europe's lesser lights failed to part the backsides of more presumptuous Romanisti from their sofas. But its continued absence is a direct consequence of the division of the Curva Sud by former Prefect of Rome Franco Gabrielli and the result of years of draconian security measures, such as fining supporters for not sitting in their allocated seat.
For the last 14 months Roma's home matches have been played out in funereal atmospheres, with the only noise coming for goals or when Totti gets up from the bench to warm up. Away supporters can easily make themselves heard in the echoing Olimpico, but Palermo fans won't on Sunday.
The Sicilian club's hardcore support have announced that they will be travelling to the capital, but won't be going into the ground in a show of solidarity over "barriers, fines, criminal charges" and "police state measures" which they feel are deliberately designed to break up the curvas. If the attendance tops 30,000 it will be impressive, a sad state of affairs for a team that lies second in Serie A and is coming into the weekend off the back of two impressive wins over Roma and Napoli.
The commonly-held view in Italy, or at least the one propagated by the country's sport media, is that if you eliminate the Ultras then families will return to the stadium. But the fact is that families were going to games when the Ultras were at their height in the 80s and 90s, and attendances have been steadily dropping since then for a whole range of reasons, which run from byzantine ticketing regulations and security measures, to the simple drop in quality offered by Serie A at a time when other leagues are easily watchable on TV.
The atmosphere was just about the only thing going for the Olimpico, where facilities are atrocious and fans are kept miles from the pitch. Now that's gone too.
Regardless, Roma haven't missed the support as much as might be thought. Training ground atmosphere at the Olimpico notwithstanding, they're unbeaten at home in the league since Luciano Spalletti returned to Rome in January, winning 11 of 14 matches and banging in 37 goals -- six more than Juventus in the same period.
Palermo might not be the walkover everyone expects, however. Although they find themselves third from bottom, having already lost four of their first eight matches, Roberto De Zerbi's side are the only Serie A team yet to lose away from home, with those four defeats curiously all coming at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.
The good news for Roma is that Costa Rican defensive lynchpin Giancarlo Gonzalez is out, sidelined for at least three weeks after picking up a knock to his right thigh against Torino last week. With him gone, in-form Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah should find plenty of room to manoeuvre.
Meanwhile Roma's improving, but still easily distracted, defence should have an eye on Ilija Nestorovski. The Macedonia international looked to be out after hurting his knee in training on Thursday (fellow attacker Norbert Balogh isn't available due an ankle injury picked up the same session), but on Saturday the Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that Palermo are far more optimistic of him starting.
Nestorovski has scored his three Palermo goals in his last four starts, including the winner at Atalanta a month ago, his side's only Serie A victory so far this season. All of his goals have come on the road, and all have been decisive; his strike secured a 1-1 draw at Crotone three days before the win at Atalanta, while only a stunning, last gasp piledriver from Bruno Fernandes denied them three points at Sampdoria after Nestorovski had given Palermo an early lead.
Roma meanwhile will revert back to a more established XI for the clash, with Stephan El Shaarawy in place of the injured Diego Perotti on the left of the three floating behind Dzeko, and Daniele De Rossi alongside Leandro Paredes in the midfield two, in front of the same back four that fell asleep on Thursday night. Spalletti will be hoping that there isn't a repeat performance.