See De Rossi’s tactics that prevented Rafael Leão from shining
Roma coach explained that Milan’s offensive power comes from the left wing, where the Portuguese international is located
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Roma won, by the smallest margin, in Milan (0-1), in a game in which they managed to nullify the opponent’s offensive power, gaining an advantage for the second leg of the Europa League quarter – finals .
After the final whistle, De Rossi was very satisfied with the result and the performance, but mainly with the attitude of his players: «We controlled the ball very well for 60 minutes, we held it well and then attacked. Against a strong team like Milan we have to be able to do everything, even defend with a provincial attitude. After Lecce , he told the players that he would not accept an inch less than the attitude that was seen in the derby. We may make mistakes or miss passes, but the attitude must always be the same.”
Rafael Leão had a very uninspired night and the Italian coach explained that this was due to the changes he made to the starting eleven, switching the wingers and central midfielders aside, to prevent the Portuguese from shining: «Milan have great players throughout the side, but the left flank is what leads them to dominate. Normally we have Dybala and Cristante on the right… it would have been a bit too much for them to run behind on the wing, so I made that choice. Cristante marked Reijnders , but was still always ready to double. I asked El Shaarawy to play on the right and his reaction was super positive, I was calm from that point of view.”
José Mourinho’s replacement for the Giallorossi expects another complicated game in the second leg and aims for victory and not a draw, which guarantees qualification for the semi-finals of the competition: «It will be similar, they want to win to close the second leg . If we play to draw, we make a mistake, we have to play to win, knowing that they will be more daring than today.”
