Alessandro Florenzi said Roma “were practically dead, but Liverpool didn’t kill us off completely. We’ll spit blood for this jersey and leave no regrets.”
The Reds were leading 5-0 at Anfield, but Edin Dzeko and a Diego Perotti dinked penalty made the final score 5-2, so the Giallorossi once again need to win the second leg 3-0 to qualify – just as they did against Barcelona.
Alessandro Florenzi said Roma “were practically dead, but Liverpool didn’t kill us off completely. We’ll spit blood for this jersey and leave no regrets.”
The Reds were leading 5-0 at Anfield, but Edin Dzeko and a Diego Perotti dinked penalty made the final score 5-2, so the Giallorossi once again need to win the second leg 3-0 to qualify – just as they did against Barcelona.
“We lost our way after the opening half-hour and were practically dead, but they didn’t kill us off completely. With heart, grit and pride, we were able to re-open a tie that had seemed finished,” Florenzi told Mediaset Premium and Roma TV.
“It’ll be difficult, but there are still 90 minutes to play in front of our fans and we’ll try to achieve something important.
“We saw that their defence struggled as soon as we got the ball behind them, but we too have to do much better defensively. It’s a pity we didn’t play as a team at a certain point and were almost afraid of our opponents, which must never happen.
“We had studied Liverpool carefully, so we knew everything about them, from the long balls to the metres they could sprint and the ball at the feet of Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren. Unfortunately, we just lost our bearings.
“We know it’ll be tougher than Barcelona, as Liverpool have different characteristics, but we must try to put in a great performance and play with the dagger between our teeth. We’ll leave no regrets behind.
“I can promise the fans that we’ll spit blood for this jersey and will play a very different match next week.”