Rome was apparently set on fire yesterday night as Roma defeated Barcelona in a Champions League encounter to make it to the semi-final.
Eusebio Di Francesco
Roma manager, Eusebio Di Francesco, has spoken on his side’s surprise victory over Spanish giants, Barcelona, in the second leg of the Champions League quarter final yesterday.
According to the Italian, the 3-0 result was a reward of their hard work. Speaking with Mediaset Premium, Francesco said the focus now is on the trophy.
He said, “The strength of this team is in looking forward, not back. We have the derby coming up on Sunday, we must always look to the next target and it’s right in front of us.
“I take the blame for defeats and some ungrateful words on social media, so I may as well take the credit for a win!
“The truth is that I made this choice to create more width, allow more counter-attacks and bring rapidity, but what really changed was the philosophy of the side and we have to continue like this now.
“Although we had very good performances in Serie A, we are only today reaping the rewards – the just rewards – for the hard work we have done.
“Of course we should believe in the final. Why shouldn’t we believe? We came this far and nobody expected us to do it, so of course we should push on and aim for something more, raise the bar every time.
“I don’t want a side that rests on its laurels or thinks it doesn’t matter how the game goes. I’ll not stand for that. We have to target more and realise we can always do better.”