Daniele De Rossi compared Roma’s defensive performance against Milan in the Europa League to Real Madrid. ‘We had intensity, intelligence and tactical knowledge.’
The Giallorossi had already won the first leg 1-0 at San Siro and immediately doubled their advantage on aggregate with another Gianluca Mancini goal, followed soon after by a Paulo Dybala curler.
However, with a 3-0 aggregate lead, Romelu Lukaku sustained a knee injury and Zeki Celik was shown a straight red card for taking down Rafael Leao in full flight.
Despite being down to 10 men for an hour, Matteo Gabbia only got a late header from a corner.
Roma will face Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League semi-final.
“To beat this Milan, we needed excellence. We needed great heart, as once we were down to 10 men, we had to play with intensity, but with intelligence and tactical knowledge. Just running around is not sufficient,” De Rossi told Sky Sport Italia.
“I am really proud to be the coach of a team like this. It was not easy, as Milan are a very strong team who play good football. We saw yesterday even Real Madrid sat back and defended, we did too when it was the right moment to do so.”
Roma won both legs home and away, whereas pundits expected it to be a far more balanced fixture considering their Serie A positions, as Milan are second.
“I do think it was balanced, honestly. We were never under that much pressure other than the last 15 minutes of the first leg and here once we went down to 10. We felt that perhaps we had something extra, but you cannot say Milan played badly over the two legs when they pinned us back.
“Seeing as Milan had almost always beaten us in recent years, few expected us to win, so the fact we made it balanced was already an achievement.”
The opening goal came because Mancini had made a strong run from defence, then won the ball back again and was ready for the rebound when Lorenzo Pellegrini hit the post.
“I hadn’t seen Mancini’s first touch, that was impressive! He’s got great technique. We tried to bring the idea of everyone having the objective to occupy the negative space ahead of them when they get the ball. Mancini has the kind of technique that means he is at ease in the final third, so we let him free to go forward.
“If he hadn’t chased down that shot on the rebound, he wouldn’t have scored. It’s just another two metres of running, nobody will get exhausted by doing that, but it makes a big difference.”
It is now confirmed that Roma will have five automatic spots in the Champions League next season, but if the Giallorossi or Atalanta win the Europa League, that could be expanded to six teams.
“It is not a fluke, because Italian football is of a high level. Perhaps we still remember the recent past when Italian football was the best of the best, but the other leagues have stepped up. We also had a spell where we struggled, but for the last five or six years we’ve had Italian teams going far in the competitions.
“The teams in the Europa League semi-final could easily be in the Champions League, so we must show more faith in Italian football. The grass is not always greener on the other side. With ideas, good football and atmospheres like the ones we see at the Stadio Olimpico and San Siro, players still want to come here and play in Italy.”
Part of the renaissance of Calcio has come from the new, younger coaches like De Rossi, Thiago Motta and Vincenzo Italiano, who shun the old defensive ideals.
“We are continuing to churn out coaches who impress at this level. Sometimes you need an opportunity to know if a coach is too young or inexperienced. As I said, this opportunity fell from the sky and I grabbed it with both hands.
“Yesterday we saw Carlo Ancelotti for what feels like the 100th time reach the Champions League semi-finals, so the school of Italian football will always provide interesting coaches. We see the younger coaches with different ideas, as perhaps they have been influenced by trends of the last decade, whereas the older coaches will stick with the ideas that saw them win multiple trophies.
“We used to say the Italian school was the best for tactics, and maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but we are certainly seeing lots of interesting ideas coming through and ex-players like me eager to get into this fascinating work.”