Di Francesco: When we concede we stop playing

Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez scored the goals for the visitors at the Stadio Olimpico - although Roma nevertheless qualified for the last-16 of the competition thanks to results elsewhere.

There were lots of individual mistakes today and a bit of emotional fragility – is that why you lost?

“Besides the individual mistakes, we were missing several players today and we fielded a side with lots of youngsters. I liked our enthusiasm and aggressiveness in the first half. We did lots of good things but we need to rid ourselves of these mistakes and this fragility. Whenever we let in a goal we stop playing. That makes me furious and it's not the first time it's happened. I'm upset and angry.

"It really bugs me, regardless of the result. We were playing a team with some incredible players and we held our own with youngsters like [Nicolo] Zaniolo in the side – he was one of the best on the pitch and he was playing at U19 level last season. You can't afford to make certain mistakes when you have kids in the team who are doing their bit.”

What's the latest from the treatment room?

“We're definitely not going to have [Edin] Dzeko, [Lorenzo] Pellegrini, [Stephan] El Shaarawy or [Daniele] De Rossi available for the game against Inter. Edin got injured in the last five minutes of training yesterday and I don't know how long he'll be out for.”

Did Real exploit the inexperience of your younger players?

“[Federico] Fazio was at fault for their opener and he's not exactly a kid. We keep paying the price for individual errors – like last week against Udinese. We can't blame it all on the youngsters. They will make mistakes sometimes, like with their final ball, but I was happy with their attitude. Sometimes the older players need to carry them. It's a shame because we conceded on the counter from a corner of ours. And when that happens a ball played into the centre is lethal. We needed to be better at reading those situations and stay in the game longer. We can't afford to make certain mistakes against Real with the experience they have. We paid the price for it.”

How can you maintain the consistency of the first half and avoid the slip-ups of the second half?

“That's the million-dollar question. It's not always easy. Sometime we lose our heads when we're faced by certain game situations. We seem to think the match is over even though there are 30 minutes left to play. But you can draw or win matches in the 90th minute. At times we're too frenetic and hurried. We have to keep working – that's the only method I know.

"I must make the players realise they are the ones going out there. I do that already but I see there are times when they lose their heads. We got off on the right foot, because we were winning possession in the opposition half. It's a pity. We paid for our inexperience. But then again, we were up against a truly exceptional side.”

Will you celebrate reaching the next round?

“We're never satisfied. We always want more.”