Roma Coach Eusebio Di Francesco appeals for fans to be on their best behaviour against Liverpool – “it must be a joy to come to the stadium tomorrow”.
Reds fan Sean Cox had to be placed into an induced coma after an alleged assault by two Italian fans ahead of the first leg, and there are fears of trouble ahead of the return.
“There are bad apples in all fanbases,” Di Francesco said in his Press conference ahead of the Champions League return leg.
Roma Coach Eusebio Di Francesco appeals for fans to be on their best behaviour against Liverpool – “it must be a joy to come to the stadium tomorrow”.
Reds fan Sean Cox had to be placed into an induced coma after an alleged assault by two Italian fans ahead of the first leg, and there are fears of trouble ahead of the return.
“There are bad apples in all fanbases,” Di Francesco said in his Press conference ahead of the Champions League return leg.
“I’ve already said that I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sean Cox and his family and I’m against all form of violence, like we all are here.
“There are good fans in Rome, we can’t allow a small number of fans – which I think there are in England too – to ruin our beautiful sport.
“I want to make an appeal: it must be a joy to come to the stadium tomorrow.”
Mohamed Salah ripped the Giallorossi apart in the first leg, will there be a specific tactical plan to deal with him.
“We can’t change the whole team for one player. I’ve heard talk of a three-man defence, five when defending.
“I say what we need is to be attentive and aware that he’s good at attacking the space in behind, and the ability to read certain situations. We can’t put three men on him.
“We prepared the game well, but during the game we got sucked toward the ball a bit and we forgot what we’d prepared, not everything turns out as it should.
“We were at the mercy of Liverpool for 25 minutes and that cannot happen. We hope to remedy it.”
Roma haven’t lost at the Stadio Olimpico in this season’s Champions League, or even conceded a goal…
“Yes, we give our opponents very little,” Di Francesco confirmed.
“We suffered a lot against Atletico [Madrid], then after that much less because we didn’t give much away. I hope we’re consistent in that sense.
“Repeating [the comeback against Barcelona] is never easy but with this crowd and their passion there’s the desire to pull off another miracle.”