Eusebio Di Francesco has challenged his Roma players to repeat their Barcelona heroics in a bid to reach the Champions League final against Liverpool on Wednesday night.
The Serie A side trailed 4-1 after the first leg of their quarter-final against Barca but staged a stunning 3-0 comeback at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to progress.
Trailing 5-2 on aggregate following Liverpool’s scintillating semi-final first leg win at Anfield last Tuesday, Di Francesco has called on his players to once again produce another emphatic comeback.
Eusebio Di Francesco has challenged his Roma players to repeat their Barcelona heroics
‘If I could I would copy and paste that performance against Barcelona, not just technically but on a mental and physical level,’ he said.
‘To compete with Liverpool you need to raise your athletic performance, we need to score as soon as possible to excite our fans and give them a reason to push us.
‘We’re playing a semi-final in front of a stadium with 70,000 people. I want to see enthusiasm and the desire to overcome the obstacle.
‘We’re facing a totally different team, tactically and even mentally, one that holds the ball less and goes more direct. We have the desire to achieve the comeback though, and do something important.
‘After that there can be any result, but that’s what I want to see.’
The Serie A side staged a stunning 3-0 comeback at the Stadio Olimpico to reach the last four
They trail 5-2 on aggregate following Liverpool’s scintillating semi-final first leg win at Anfield
Roma were criticised for the way in which they left enormous space for Liverpool’s front three to run riot last week. Di Francesco insists his team have to balance attack and defence in order to stay in the tie and complete the comeback.
‘Nothing is decided in terms of the team,’ he added.
‘We’ll have players missing and fewer options than usual, but nothing decisive. This is an important game to be approached in the right way both defensively and offensively.
‘We have to score three goals and there’s definitely the risk of getting caught on the counter-attack, so we have to take that into account.
‘Asking about the defence doesn’t make much sense though, because if you want to score three goals you can’t stay under your own crossbar.’
Di Francesco insists his team have to balance attack and defence in order to stay in the tie
The Italian boss doesn’t expect the absence of Zeljko Buvac to make a difference to the Reds
It was revealed on Monday that Jurgen Klopp’s assistant Zeljko Buvac has left Liverpool at least until the end of the season. However, Di Francesco doesn’t expect that to make any difference.
‘I’ve kicked out my assistant too to make it even!’ Di Francesco joked.
‘It’s internal stuff, I’m not preparing the game based on that. We’ll face a strong and determined team which represents a great club, one with a great history in Europe.
‘I don’t think one staff member can make a difference.’