De Rossi: “A big confidence boost”

Daniele De Rossi shared his views on the match after the final whistle...

You surprised everyone with a very attacking line-up. Why did you decide to go with those tactics?

“It was part tactical, part logical. Tactical because before the game was suspended we found a lot of space on [Leo] Spinazzola's side. Evan [Ndicka] was playing there but being a centre-back he was less inclined to get forward. We wanted someone who would push up a lot.

“However, it was more logical than tactical. I tried to put out as many players as possible who can score goals – not necessarily through patient build-up play, but perhaps a long-range shot, a header from a corner, or an individual moment of brilliance.

“I left out people I consider first-choice players, like [Leo] Paredes, and went with the likes of Bryan and Lollo [Pellegrini] who could maybe score from a corner or a free kick. I put in Angelino so that he could deliver crosses for the two strikers.”

We also saw a new De Rossi celebration today.

“It's a bit embarrassing. Everyone's winding me up about it. But I was so happy. Apart from the importance of these points for our league position, it was also important for morale because it was knocked somewhat by losing to Bologna.

“It's a big boost of confidence and joy for us. And I'm happy for the players because they did so well. There were people who came here knowing they wouldn't even play a minute. They made the journey and celebrated at the end of the game. They were all happy.

“They knew they wouldn't even come on as subs because the ones I was considering bringing on already knew beforehand, and yet they warmed up enthusiastically and got really involved. I loved that sort of thing even in my playing days but as a coach it hits home even more. It's wonderful to see. I'm also happy because of the controversy surrounding this game and the date to finish it.

“I'm sorry for the crowd in Udine who treated us so well, but I think we're the first Italian club who has to play a European semi-final against an unbeaten team, the German champions, and whose FA gives them a day less to prepare for it. We'll go to Napoli with just two days of preparation while they've had a full week's training. But my players' response tonight was reassuring. We have a team of great guys.”

Does this win and the adrenaline it gives you change anything in terms of preparing for Napoli?

“No, it changes the mood and the league table, which is no small matter. But it doesn't change much for us. We'd already started studying Napoli because these 20 minutes against Udinese didn't need a lot of tactical preparation so we had time to look at the immediate future.

“We know they're an excellent team who won the title hands down last season with more or less the same players. They're one of the best teams, together with Inter and perhaps Milan. Individually, they're excellent. We know it will be very difficult.

“We'll prepare for it the same way we've prepared for the others and hopefully I'll get more things right than I did against Bologna. It will be a match of a very high technical level.”

You've now equalled Jose Mourinho's tally for the season: 29 points in 13 games. But Mourinho took 20 games to reach the same total. That's quite a surprising statistic. What do you have to say about it? What's the secret?

“I look at everything except this points competition between me and the coach. It's clear that we're doing very well. It's clear but not to everyone. Sometimes some people forget it. We're picking up lots of points, doing really well and have got ourselves back into a position that seemed out of our reach when I arrived – not so much for the gap with fourth place, five or six points, but the number of teams ahead of us that we needed to make up ground on.

“The lads are doing an amazing job and I think they could have made up the points with Mourinho because it's down to them: players with a huge heart, winners with a huge heart. Even when things aren't going well and you're not picking up points, winners have that sense of pride you need to get out of those situations. I think they'd have got themselves out of the tricky situation they were in even without me.”