Rudi Garcia insists there is “no shame in losing to Napoli and Manchester City” as Roma visit third-placed Genoa.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Of course we were disappointed on Wednesday, but the day after I told them we had to turn over a new leaf and that’s what we did,” said Garcia in his Press conference.
Rudi Garcia insists there is “no shame in losing to Napoli and Manchester City” as Roma visit third-placed Genoa.
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“Of course we were disappointed on Wednesday, but the day after I told them we had to turn over a new leaf and that’s what we did,” said Garcia in his Press conference.
A 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City saw them eliminated from the Champions League and bumped down to the Europa League.
“We have Serie A to focus on with a difficult game against the side in third place. We need to concentrate all our energy here. We tried to score for an hour and went close to an equaliser even after City’s goal with Ljajic. When Manolas saw his header hit the upright and go out, perhaps the team said to itself this was not their night.
“I am always ambitious and want to win every game, but in Europe you need good luck, confidence and also a decent draw.”
Garcia was asked whether there was a running theme in Roma’s campaign of losing the big games, having fallen to Manchester City, Juventus and Napoli.
“Please let’s remove Juve from that list,” he grimaced in reference to contentious refereeing decisions.
“There’s no shame losing to Napoli and Manchester City. I look to the results and see the glass half full. We have 32 points in Serie A, plus had to deal with six Champions League fixtures that we didn’t have last season. At the moment our campaign has been exceptional, then there are two top level games against Genoa and Milan to go.
“In the Europa League we need to pick up points to ensure we’re not fourth seeds in the draw again. We will play for three tournaments knowing we won’t be seeded in the Europa League draw, which is another reason to do well in this competition.”
Garcia confirmed Douglas Maicon and Kostas Manolas are available after knocks, while Ashley Cole “remains an important player for us.”