Daniele De Rossi previews Roma-Juventus: “We need the Champions League.” | OneFootball

Roma manager Daniele De Rossi spoke to the media on the eve of the match against Juventus.

The Italian technician attended this morning’s press conference to discuss the upcoming showdown at the Stadio Olimpico a few days after the team’s defeat to Bayer Leverkusen.

“Today we will get an idea of how the boys are feeling,” said De Rossi. “I will decide on the starting formation tomorrow morning once I’ve assessed everyone’s condition. What I can say is that we don’t seem to have any serious injuries.”

“I am very impressed with how Dybala has been doing: he’s reacting very well on the pitch. He’s sad about Thursday’s defeat, but he amazes me on a physical level.”

“Juventus? I really respect Allegri, he’s someone who played with my father. Juve compete with respect, but we need Champions League points and I am sure that our fans will help us move forward as they always have done. We need their help in these next 4-5 games.”

“Leverkusen? In Leverkusen it will be even more difficult than it was on Thursday. It will be a tough undertaking but not impossible. In football anything can happen. In the return leg, scoring a goal in the first half hour, who knows… Bayer are very strong, their coach is excellent but in the first half hour I saw Roma play better. Their first goal took the wind out of our sails, but we still had opportunities afterwards too. I am proud of my team’s performance, I’m proud of everyone including those who made mistakes.”

“Criticism? I don’t come to sing my praises and puff out my chest about the matches. The result clouds the eyes and analyses of many, some do it out of anger, others because they don’t know football well enough.”

“We too can emulate the Bayer Leverkusen model, I spoke about it yesterday with the Friedkins. Some of characteristics of the squad that Alonso has will be those that I will also ask for during the summer. I want us to play like that.”

“I will now ask my boys who brought me this far for an extra effort in these last few games. They’ve been incredible. Then in June we will make some evaluations and look for specific qualities with regards to the market.”