De Rossi: ‘Roma and Juventus wanted to win, now Leverkusen’ | OneFootball

Daniele De Rossi concedes both Roma and Juventus ‘could’ve won’ their 1-1 draw, updates on Paulo Dybala’s injury and insists they can stun Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League.

The Giallorossi were coming off Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League semi-final loss to Bayer Leverkusen, but it was impossible to see any difference in fitness levels with well-rested Juve this evening.

“I think we played a really good game and if I reflect on the fact that 48 hours ago we were struggling after a very intense match where we fought to the last second and today I saw the performance improve as the game went on, I can only be proud,” De Rossi told DAZN.

“We’re not that happy with draws, but seeing the attitude of the lads, the way they never stop fighting to achieve a result, I am so pleased with that.”

Romelu Lukaku had opened the scoring with a tap-in, cancelled out by the Gleison Bremer header on a corner, while both goalkeepers made big saves and both teams rattled the woodwork with a Rasmus Kristensen header and Federico Chiesa screamer.

“With a pinch of luck, we could’ve won, but so could they. That’s the definition of a draw, really. Juve have exceptional players and they deserve credit too.”

Dybala muscular concern

Dybala went off at half-time, so was it a fitness issue for La Joya?

“He felt a twinge I think in the adductor, he said it was nothing major, but we’ll evaluate over the next few days. It shouldn’t be particularly serious.”

De Rossi used a new 4-3-2-1 formation this evening with Dybala and Tommaso Baldanzi behind Lukaku, as a 4-3-3 is tricky with Dybala.

“I really like teams who have these rapid wide men who play with their feet on the touchline, but Dybala is a different type of player and we have to make the most of his characteristics. I tried him wide against Verona and Cabal tired him out, so it is better to have someone else there and give him a more central role.”

The tempo became frantic in the second half with end to end moves and saves from both goalkeepers.

“Both teams wanted to win and both felt we could win. It isn’t a good idea for us to get stretched out against a Juve side that is so good at counter-attacking. We needed to pin them back and we did for the last 20 minutes or so,” continued De Rossi.

“We do have a small defect, which is that when we go behind, we get a bit scared and lose our way. We did it against Napoli, after the goal with Leverkusen.

“We need to take a breath and remember that the pitch hasn’t suddenly got bigger, the things that worked well up until a few minutes ago can still work, so we have to look to our certainties.”

De Rossi looks ahead to Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen

Roma are now only three points clear of Atalanta, who have two games in hand, one is against Udinese tomorrow, the other with Fiorentina will likely not be played until June.

That Fiorentina match was called off in March when Viola director Joe Barone collapsed, dying two days later in hospital, and has not been rescheduled because of European and Coppa Italia commitments.

“This extra match will probably be played after the season has ended and will feel like a Final for Atalanta. We cannot afford to wait and see what happens when we’re already on vacation and they are playing,” admitted De Rossi.

“It does rather falsify everything, it’s nobody’s fault and it was unfortunate, but inevitably it does change the whole race.”

As luck would have it, Roma will go head-to-head with Atalanta next weekend, just days after both are involved in the Europa League semi-final second legs.

The Giallorossi lost 2-0 at home, so how can De Rossi inspire his men to still believe in a turnaround against a team that has never lost this season?

“You believe. If you think about the first 28 minutes, we had a big chance, were aggressive, saw a lot of the ball, overall had 68 per cent possession.

“We also mustn’t be hasty, it’s not like we need to overturn five goals, it’s two. I even asked Allegri for advice and he said you can score at the 60th and still do it.

“We’ve seen what Bayer Leverkusen are like when they break the first press and have space to run into, so we need to be energetic and intense, but also intelligent.”