Luciano Spalletti saw familiar tactical problems against Real Madrid, but assured “Roma did pretty well and are on the right track.”
The Merengues won 2-0 at the Olimpico in a Champions League Round of 16 tie, first leg, with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jese.
Despite the result, the Giallorossi were applauded off the field at the final whistle.
Luciano Spalletti saw familiar tactical problems against Real Madrid, but assured “Roma did pretty well and are on the right track.”
The Merengues won 2-0 at the Olimpico in a Champions League Round of 16 tie, first leg, with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jese.
Despite the result, the Giallorossi were applauded off the field at the final whistle.
“Roma fans are accustomed to great players, great performances and great moments. If they applauded, it’s because they saw great effort and knew we were not rewarded for that effort,” the Coach told Mediaset Premium.
“Real Madrid have this quality, give them a metre and they turn it into a kilometre. We weren’t as good as them when making the most of that extra space.
“Backing off too much in defence is a problem we have. On the second goal we should’ve doubled up earlier and cut him off.
“We are too timorous often at the back and struggle to suffocate teams, so when we go on the counter the midfield stays deep. We get stretched out and are having problems finding our balance in our positions on the pitch.
“I don’t want to discuss physical fitness, because if you tell players that they can treat it as an alibi. I don’t want to tell my players they are inferior to the opposition in physical terms. They have the opportunity to prove themselves.
“Clearly if we are a little late at times suffocating the opposition, then it means we have more work to be done. I work primarily on tactics and what I can give. If I say it’s physical, it’d be the message they could lose for a month before getting better.
“I thought we had a great game in the second half, we just didn’t cause enough problems in midfield. Every time we won back the ball, we had the chance to keep possession as we had more in midfield, but if we let them have the initiative then in defence we do still allow too much in every game. Give Real Madrid a little, they’ll turn it into a lot.
“After scoring the goal, Real Madrid settled a bit, got more comfortable, and tried to control the game.
“I can only tell the team they did pretty well. Unlucky on occasion, there is work to be done, but we are on the right track.”