Thomas Vermaelen was “very happy to play again” after a lengthy injury lay-off and insists “the Europa League is a target for Roma.”
The Belgian defender had been out of action since August 28 due to a persistent sports hernia, but played the entire 0-0 draw away to Astra Giurgiu.
“Of course personally I am happy to play again and am very pleased with 90 minutes,” he told laroma24.
Thomas Vermaelen was “very happy to play again” after a lengthy injury lay-off and insists “the Europa League is a target for Roma.”
The Belgian defender had been out of action since August 28 due to a persistent sports hernia, but played the entire 0-0 draw away to Astra Giurgiu.
“Of course personally I am happy to play again and am very pleased with 90 minutes,” he told laroma24.
“I don’t think it was a great game, there was nothing at stake and the tempo was slow. We wanted to win, but I don’t think we created enough chances to win it.
“I’m just very happy to play again. I want to cherish this moment, as I put a difficult period behind me. Roma have very strong defenders who can be in the starting XI, so at a top club there is always going to be competition. I will fight for my place.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead. I am happy to be in Rome, I’m enjoying myself and at the moment I feel very happy, very comfortable within the team. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.
“When you get into the knockout stage it’ll be very interesting. For us it’s a target to win the Europa League, a team like Roma can achieve that.
“Big games are coming up, anything can happen in this phase and we have to be prepared.”