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Roma went out at the quarter-final stage of the competition, following a 3-1 defeat at the Juventus Stadium.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Rodrigo Bentancur and Leonardo Bonucci scored the first-half goals for the hosts – with Cengiz Under’s blistering strike not enough to spark a second half comeback.
“Very disappointed,” Smalling said.
“We had two cup competitions [to aim for] and now we have only one. Definitely disappointed. We played well at times, we had the ball but we didn’t make the most of it. The story tonight was ruthlessness – they were ruthless and we were not.”
He added: “We have to keep improving. Each game we have seen some improvement, and we’re working hard in training. We just need complete performances – tonight, like the game against them a few weeks ago, we controlled large parts of the game – but we need to put it all together and be more ruthless, so that’s where the difference is.”
The Giallorossi don’t have much time to dwell on the result – Lazio are the ‘visitors’ to the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.
“We’ll be disappointed tonight but tomorrow it’s all about the derby,” Smalling added.
“The derby speaks for itself but it’s also massively important for our league position, and closing the gap on those above us in the race for the Champions League.”
Imperium Partners
Centurion Partners
