Daniele De Rossi confirmed that he will take inspiration from Roma’s remarkable comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League back in 2018 when the Giallorossi attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit against unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League on Thursday.
Roma trail the Germans by two goals to nil after the first leg in Leverkusen last Thursday.
Roma are no strangers when it comes to pulling off the extraordinary in Europe, of course.
They fought back from a 4-1 loss against Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals six years ago, when De Rossi was still playing, to record a 3-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico, which was enough for Roma to qualify on away goals.
The coach touched on that night during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, revealing that he will likely give a similar pre-match team talk to his players on Thursday.
What De Rossi plans on telling his Roma players
“I don’t know what I’ll say, something off the cuff probably. That time against Barcelona, I said that I trusted the group, and tomorrow, I’ll definitely say the same again,” he said, reported via TMW.
He continued: “I know that I can trust them and that we can try to pull of a small upset. That time we were so doomed, the situation was different. Lots of things makes me think that we can recreate that atmosphere and try to use it to our advantage.”