De Rossi: ‘Few believed in Roma’

Daniele De Rossi said Roma will relish their 3-0 victory over Chelsea for a long time and credited Coach Eusebio Di Francesco with the new attitude.

Stephan El Shaarawy got two goals before the Diego Perotti second half strike, which put them top of the Champions League group ahead of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.

Daniele De Rossi said Roma will relish their 3-0 victory over Chelsea for a long time and credited Coach Eusebio Di Francesco with the new attitude.

Stephan El Shaarawy got two goals before the Diego Perotti second half strike, which put them top of the Champions League group ahead of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.

“At Roma we don’t often experience big Champions League nights, in fact we often got hammered, but I remember when we beat Chelsea a few years ago and people here still recall the scorers. They’re going to remember this one too,” the captain told Mediaset Premium.

“Few believed in us, but we are top of the group. Unfortunately, it’s not over yet, as there are another two tough games and Qarabag proved they are no pushovers.

“This Coach has changed the way we attack the opponents and it’s obvious to see. We are aggressive against all the opponents, even sides who in previous years we might’ve feared or sat back to invite forward. I see this as a little step forward.

“The defeats to Inter and Roma also showed us what we needed to do, as we were sitting back in the first half and aggressive in the second. That showed us the way forward.”

Roma were expected to be third in the group when drawn with Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, but the results have been very different.

“The Coach and players were treated like idiots because we drew with Atletico Madrid, then people acted like we had to almost apologise for ‘only’ beating Qarabag 2-1 in Azerbaijan. Opinion changes quickly. We’re not winning so we can take selfies, but we need to take it easy with the ambitions.

“I do want to point out we should always be grateful at being born a Romanista, even when we lose 7-1.”