Radja Nainggolan claims Roma “can beat anyone, if we play our football” as the Giallorossi “can still win three trophies” this season.
Roma trail seven points behind Juventus in Serie A but are the Old Lady’s nearest challengers, as well as being in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, where they will face arch-rivals Lazio, and the last 16 of the Europa League.
Radja Nainggolan claims Roma “can beat anyone, if we play our football” as the Giallorossi “can still win three trophies” this season.
Roma trail seven points behind Juventus in Serie A but are the Old Lady’s nearest challengers, as well as being in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, where they will face arch-rivals Lazio, and the last 16 of the Europa League.
“Villarreal? We didn’t expect such a result at Villarreal because in recent years they’d always achieved great results in Europe,” the midfielder, who scored twice in Sunday’s 3-1 win against Inter, told UEFA’s official website.
“But this is football, we played well … I don’t think it was our best game, but we took every chance.
“It was a great result and after a 4-0 win away in the first leg, it wasn’t easy to play the return leg.
“We made a lot of changes, thinking about the difficult games waiting for us in the League and Coppa Italia. In the end, we qualified and it was the only thing that mattered.
“Worried about a Villarreal comeback? Honestly, when they scored the first goal and created a couple of chances to score a second, I thought it could become difficult.
“But in the end, we defended well. It wasn’t a great game, but we knew that only the result [over both legs] mattered. We had a great advantage and played with confidence.
“We’re still in the running for three competitions, we can still win three trophies. Right now, we’re focused on the League.
“Favourites in the Coppa? Honestly, to be favourites is always difficult, there’s more pressure.
“But we’re a good team and we must believe in our quality. If we play our football, I think we can beat anyone.
“Lyon in the last 16? The draw wasn’t lucky because we wanted to face a team that were less strong.
“But in the end, if you don’t meet a strong team in this round, you will in the next, so it doesn’t change match. You must beat everyone to lift the trophy and that’s what we’ll do.
“Knowledge of Lyon? I know Yanga-Mbiwa, who played with us last season, and I think he’s a great player.
“The team, in general, are doing well. They beat AZ and made everything seem easy, but I think we’re much stronger than AZ and they’ll definitely find it harder against us.”