Luciano Spalletti says his Roma players “have done something great”, even if they don’t finish second.
The Giallorossi face Milan at San Siro tomorrow, and can still enter directly into the Champions League group stage if they win and the Partenopei don’t beat Frosinone.
In the second half of the season, the Lupi have recovered five points on the Vesuviani, 15 on Inter and 20 on Fiorentina.
Luciano Spalletti says his Roma players “have done something great”, even if they don’t finish second.
The Giallorossi face Milan at San Siro tomorrow, and can still enter directly into the Champions League group stage if they win and the Partenopei don’t beat Frosinone.
In the second half of the season, the Lupi have recovered five points on the Vesuviani, 15 on Inter and 20 on Fiorentina.
“Well, let your newspapers know about these numbers!” Spalletti laughed when asked about that record in his pre-match Press conference, and whether his team deserve second.
“I’ve never seen them talk about it. They’re numbers that the players deserve, they have done something great, and I’m convinced that this team has significant potential.
“We’ve worked in the right way and… I’m trying to remember the question…
“I don’t know if we deserve more than third. If we come third, but we did our best to reach the highest possible position then I can’t ask for more.
“Even if the table is the same after the game, we have to keep thinking positively about these players, not mentioning the two points dropped against Bologna, but rather what they’ve done.
“We should mention how many points we’ve taken compared to teams like Inter, like Sassuolo, like Napoli. They’ve been good, great.”
Roma finished second under Rudi Garcia last season, who said that the gap to Juventus was too big to bridge, does Spalletti agree?
“I feel optimistic about what I’ve seen from this team, but I’m not criticising anyone. I don’t think they did a bad job last season, when you look at the final result.
“I’d say that this team has enormous potential, and they’ve shown that, above all mentally. We’ve done what we had to do, and from what I’ve seen this team can compete with anyone.”
Milan are 20 points adrift of the Giallorossi, but the Coach warns his side not to let their guard down.
“It’s clear that if that’s what everyone thinks [that Milan aren’t good] it’ll probably cause a reaction,” Spalletti cautioned.
“As they get to the end of what has been a season to forget for them, they need to have sting in the tail and prepare well for this game given their position in the table and the risk of not getting into Europe.
“If we aren’t prepared, if we don’t put our qualities out there on the pitch, it’ll be a tough game, partly because of [Rossoneri Coach Cristian] Brocchi’s work and partly because they know the consequences of their last two games [Roma and the Coppa final with Juventus].”