Historic XI: Daniele De Rossi makes his debut

Every game has its value; even if it doesn't end in a trophy being lifted, a league being won, or a next round reached.

Every game is preserved for future record. Every game tells its story. Every game - any game - can be rendered beautiful, or important, or just notable by the history that follows it.

That's the case with Roma's game against Anderlecht, 30 October 2001. The final game of the first group stage of the Champions League, with Fabio Capello's side already having secured their place into the the next round of the competition.

The famous half-orange, half-red home shirts were on - perhaps one of the finest kits in the club's illustrious history of such things.

Capello used the game as an opportunity to experiment, moving to a 3-5-2 system in need of testing. Cafu and Guigou played the wide roles, while Cassano and Delvecchio started in attack on this occasion.

In the end, the game finished a draw - 1-1, with Delvecchio cancelling out Mornar's earlier goal.

The game's historic moment, however, came 26 minutes into the second half. When Ivan Tomic was brought off, on came an 18-year-old with long, flowing blonde hair and the No. 27 on his back.

His first-ever appearance for Roma.

Daniele De Rossi.

It wasn't an outlier, either - De Rossi would go on to play in three Coppa Italia games that season. Yet it would be more than 12 months before he would appear in Serie A - this was his first step, but he would have to bide his time to make all the others.

For a club he would represent 616 times, this was No. 1. No. 616 would come almost 17 years later.

Here are the other players who lined up that night...

Ivan Pelizzoli: A signing from Atalanta in the summer of 2001, many predicted his career would eventually follow that of Gianluigi Buffon. Unfortunately, he would peak early and fade quickly. In 92 appearances across four years, however, he had his moments - he still holds the record for most minutes unbeaten (774), a record he set during a positive 2003-04 campaign.

Sebastiano Siviglia: Just one season at Roma for Siviglia, this one, and this was his only run-out in the Champions League too. He would play just seven times for the club in total.

Walter Samuel: A stalwart for Fabio Capello, Samuel would play regardless of the occasion. 'The Wall', the pillar of the Scudetto season. 173 appearances and 11 goals for him for the Giallorossi.

Aldair: A World Cup winner in 1994, a Serie A winner in 2001. One of the greatest centre-backs of all time, he made 436 appearances for Roma and fully earned the 10-year retirement of his No. 6 shirt.

Marcos Cafu: Like Aldair, a World Cup winner (in both 1994 and 2002) and a Serie A winner with the Giallorossi. One of the all-time greats both in his position and in general, he made 218 appearances for the Giallorossi (scoring eight goals).

Marcos Assunçao: Brought in as a starter for the 1999-00 season, by the following year he had settled into a role as a trusted replacement - one with a remarkable eye for a free-kick. 83 games, 10 goals for him.

Emerson: It ended somewhat acrimoniously, but Emerson's career at Roma started miraculously. He came back from injury to become a key cog in the Scudetto side, a midfielder who could do it all. 145 games for the club, 21 goals.

Ivan Tomic: Tomic was snapped up from the Partizan Belgrade youth system over Dejan Stankovic, a player who would end up making his name elsewhere - and would have added many qualities to Zeman's midfield of a few years later. Tomic looked good in highlights but that didn't translate into reality, and in being replaced by Daniele De Rossi in this game his future was rather spelt out for him. 31 games in total for the club.

Gianni Guigou: Or, to give him his full name: Gianni Bismark Martinez Guigou. A handyman, a role player, he was always there in a pinch. 61 games in total for the Giallorossi, and his own part in that title win of 2001.

Antonio Cassano: He could have been whatever he wanted to be - the next Baggio, perhaps. Instead he never quite had the focus for that. "My nature let me down a bit, but I was bloody good," he once said. The usual lack of modesty may be there, but that's about right too. For Totti he was the ideal partner, and as a pair they occasionally conjured up wonders. But in the end, something of a wasted talent. 162 games, 52 goals for Roma.

Marco Delvecchio: Not the same level of talent as so many of his attacking teammates, but his workrate and desire made him every bit as valuable to Capello - who always struggled to leave him out. Derby exploits remain his calling card, but he was always much more than that. 300 games for the Giallorossi in total, 83 goals.