Rudi Garcia felt Roma should’ve turned their dominant possession into goals in a 0-0 draw with Sampdoria.

“It was difficult to move the ball quickly and accurately on a pitch like this. Looking at the statistics, we didn’t have enough shots on target to hope for the three points,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

Rudi Garcia felt Roma should’ve turned their dominant possession into goals in a 0-0 draw with Sampdoria.

“It was difficult to move the ball quickly and accurately on a pitch like this. Looking at the statistics, we didn’t have enough shots on target to hope for the three points,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

The turf at Marassi was in understandably poor condition considering the devastating floods that affected Genoa in recent weeks, leaving one man dead and many homeless.

“We had 65 per cent possession, but then you need a little bit of luck, which we saw when the upright decided we should not score.

“I liked the overall performance in the circumstances. We had 20 shots on goal, but not enough of them were on target tonight, well below our usual standards. I thought everyone gave their all and had the right attitude, so a Coach can only be happy with that.”

Francesco Totti had been expected to rest in favour of Mattia Destro, but he played more than usual this evening.

“He only played one half midweek, so physically he was in good shape and we saw him work hard tonight even when tracking back to defend. It’s not easy for any of the strikers on a pitch like this and I am happy with my captain.”

Garcia noted the injury crisis is taking its toll, but not just in the sense of missing champions like Kevin Strootman and Leandro Castan.

“I don’t think we are missing the players specifically, but it is forcing us to play the same men almost always in central defence and midfield.

“I had to rest Pjanic and we saw Florenzi give his best in a different role. The main problem with the injuries is that the same players are always there and inevitably that affects fitness levels.”

This difficult trip to Sampdoria was just days after a 7-1 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.

“When playing against an unbeaten team that is third in Serie A, we had the right attitude and standards, which shows me we have already put Bayern behind us.”

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