Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti admits “everything is more difficult” after first leg defeat to Real Madrid but progression is “not impossible”.
The Giallorossi went down 2-0 in the home leg of their Champions League Last 16 tie, and play the return leg tonight.
“We’ve made life considerably more difficult for ourselves,” Spalletti admitted in an interview with UEFA’s official website.
Roma Coach Luciano Spalletti admits “everything is more difficult” after first leg defeat to Real Madrid but progression is “not impossible”.
The Giallorossi went down 2-0 in the home leg of their Champions League Last 16 tie, and play the return leg tonight.
“We’ve made life considerably more difficult for ourselves,” Spalletti admitted in an interview with UEFA’s official website.
“When I said we had a 50 per cent chance [of going through] it was because I really believed we could win the game at the Olimpico.
“They were better than us, but also more lucky. When I read in the analyses of the game that we matched them and that the result could have been reversed, that’s the truth.
“Now everything is more difficult, we have to be realistic about that, but it’s not impossible. We can’t think about the result, that would make it difficult to think of a comeback.
“We just have to think about scoring a goal, obviously before them…
“But if we score a goal then that changes the psychological picture in the game. So we have to go there thinking about playing to score and not to concede, if we can do that then it becomes a whole different scenario.
“The big challenge, the big job, is trying to score and not conceding one against us.”
Spalletti was out of work for almost two years before returning to the Lupi, and admits he missed these big Champions League nights.
“As I’ve said many times, this is the paradise of football, the absolute quality of the sport that I love the most.
“You’re going up against the best, and as it says in the song ‘these are the champions, the masters, the best, the best teams – the champions’.
“So being in a high quality match, among the best teams is the most beautiful thing.”