Roma Coach Aurelio Andreazzoli praised his team after they beat Inter 3-2 to reach the Coppa Italia Final against rivals Lazio” data-scaytid=”38″>Lazio.
Roma Coach Aurelio Andreazzoli praised his team after they beat Inter 3-2 to reach the Coppa Italia Final against rivals Lazio.
The Giallorossi had already won the first leg 2-1 on January 23, when Zdenek Zeman was still on the bench.
“At half-time we told each other that we couldn’t continue like this. We had to shake ourselves up,” Andreazzoli told Rai Sport after fighting back from 1-0 down to win 3-2.
“It’s difficult to explain why we started the game so badly, as it’s not the first time this has happened. Against Torino on Sunday we again needed the classic slap in the face to wake us up. We always seem to scrape the bottom of the barrel to then recover our energy.”
The Coppa Italia Final will be a Derby della Capitale at the Stadio Olimpico on May 26.
“We’ve got to arrive at that match with the right psychological and physical condition. This is only possible if we win the next few games in Serie A.
“When I was called in, I proposed some targets to myself, among them the Coppa Italia Final. A Derby to win the Coppa is something special. However, we mustn’t just focus on the Final, otherwise we risk throwing away all the other good work we’ve done so far.”
Roma have been transformed in terms of mentality since Andreazzoli took over from Zeman in February.
“We knew that we had great quality. The team had its own style of football, they just lost a little confidence and we had to rediscover the right enthusiasm.
“We started celebrating victories and remembered this is still a game. Now we have a compact group, though we’re still not 100 per cent in terms of fitness.”