Daniele De Rossi confessed the 2-2 draw with Napoli was ‘not the result or the performance’ Roma wanted, but has good news for the Europa League and Bayer Leverkusen.
The Giallorossi took the lead with a Paulo Dybala penalty, then the Matias Olivera deflected effort and a Victor Osimhen spot-kick turned it around completely.
Tammy Abraham came off the bench and nodded in a corner flicked on by Evan Ndicka, a goal that was initially ruled offside, but given the all-clear following a VAR review for the 2-2 final result.
“We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted. Napoli are a very strong team, we lack some sharpness at the moment, but we’ve got to be smarter and cleaner on the ball,” De Rossi told Sky Sport Italia.
“At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.”
Leandro Paredes and Diego Llorente were suspended, with Romelu Lukaku, Chris Smalling and Rick Karsdorp out of action, but the Argentina international was badly missed in midfield.
“This team was built without many players who are good at holding the ball in midfield, so it’s very different when Leo is missing. Having said that, we still ought to do better.
“Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season. We’ve got to get on our feet and keep going, because there are many more big matches to be played.”
De Rossi stands up for Roma players
It was pointed out to De Rossi that Gianluca Mancini looked to be struggling with his fitness.
“Possession is not the issue, it’s about what you do when you have the ball. We weren’t the best version of ourselves, but I wouldn’t say we were that bad either and that goes for Mancini too. It’s not easy for him, as he plays all the time, even when he’s not in perfect condition.”
Renato Sanches made a rare appearance off the bench and gave away the penalty that allowed Napoli to take the lead.
“He has technical quality, it was a difficult moment of the match. He had recovered the ball first and was unlucky on the penalty incident. He probably doesn’t have that many minutes in his legs, but he is training with intensity over the last six weeks, so we hope to use him more in the final stages of the season.”
Ndicka not only returned for the first time since collapsing against Udinese with a lung injury, but he was even in the starting XI and made several big blocks on Osimhen.
“Aside from the assist, he marked Osimhen so well throughout the game, having already done so in the Africa Cup of Nations Final. Tammy is back too after his injury, we have two lads return after moments where they suffered and we need everyone, especially on Thursday.”
Can Lukaku and Smalling recover in time for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen?
“We think they can recover, but we’ll see tomorrow and the day after with the stronger training sessions to make sure the problems are behind them.”
As Juventus and Bologna also played stalemates this weekend, it keeps the situation from second to fifth exactly the same, but Atalanta and Lazio are closing up behind them.