Rudi Garcia insists Roma’s Champions League “destiny is still in our hands” after a disappointing 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow.
The Giallorossi had been in front until the final minute and with a win would’ve been practically qualified a round early.
Rudi Garcia insists Roma’s Champions League “destiny is still in our hands” after a disappointing 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow.
The Giallorossi had been in front until the final minute and with a win would’ve been practically qualified a round early.
“When we don’t score a second goal, we are at risk of an equaliser like that. We should finish off games. There were only 10 seconds to go and we were practically qualified,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.
This evening Manchester City host already-qualified Bayern Munich and can also get back into the running.
“In the end, whatever happens tonight in Manchester, we have to win the final game. At least that means it’s still in our hands, which is the objective we had going into this group.
“It’s a shame, as I don’t recall Moscow having any particularly dangerous chances. We were compact, but when we’re 1-0 up and close to the end, we have to defend well. We did that almost the entire second half and created two scoring opportunities with Adem and Radja.
“A draw away from home is never negative, but the way it came about was really painful.”
Kevin Strootman came on for the final minutes, but was it a risk in the circumstances?
“Strootman needs to play in order to rediscover match fitness in a competitive situation. We introduced Miralem Pjanic to keep the ball and with Iturbe to go on the counter. We lost the ball in midfield and this allowed CSKA a counter-attack.”
Alessandro Florenzi said Roma almost “deserved” to concede a late equaliser because they were too negative in the second half.
“CSKA Moscow did well in the second half to push forward. We did not plan tactically to go deep, it just happened when we were under pressure against strong players. We knew the 5-1 in Rome wouldn’t mean it’d be all easy here.
“The only truly disappointing thing is the equaliser, as we would’ve been practically qualified otherwise,” added Garcia.
“Everyone said when the draw was made that we were basically guests in the group, but we will challenge for qualification right to the final game. It’s still a truly fantastic opportunity for us.”
If the Giallorossi draw 0-0 with Manchester City and CSKA Moscow fail to beat Bayern Munich, they will still go through.
“Yes, but it’s better if we think a victory is necessary, as that way we’ll know what we need to do.”