Spinazzola delighted to send message with winning display

Spinazzola played a decisive part in the visitors' second goal of the game - his cross being deflected in by the unfortunate Davide Biraschi - as his roaming performance down the left flank created problems time and time again over the 90 minutes.

After an unusual week for the Italy international that saw a proposed swap move with Inter Milan fall apart, supposedly due to concerns about his fitness, Spinazzola was satisfied to do his talking on the pitch.

“It’s definitely been an intense week," Spinazzola said after the final whistle.

"I wanted to play well today and help the team to win. I was able to do both of those things and that’s great.

"Now we are just thinking about Wednesday against Juventus, and then after that there is the derby – it’s another intense week.”

He added: "I got back [to Rome] on Friday fired up, because they said I was broken, they said I was injured.

"I’ve played for Juventus, I’ve played for Atalanta and I’ve played for Roma and they did not all pass me fit because they are incompetent. But I’m calm about it, if anything it’s given me a lot of motivation."

Every player wants the best for themselves and the team. Given you’ve just shown you are fit and fine, what do you think about everything that was said about you this week?

“I’m good, I’m an international player, I’ve played for a lot of good teams and it’s a joke to say that I’m broken. It was important today – I ran a lot. I trained when I was in Milan, on my own in the gym, and when I got back to Rome I was at training straight away so I didn’t miss a session.”

Now you have to think about this next week with Roma…

“I’m only thinking about Roma and only about next week, which is crucial for us. We are facing two good sides who are in great form, we need to be focused and prepared for both games – starting tomorrow.”

What have your teammates said to you?

“I joked a bit with my teammates and the staff when I came back, I said it was great to meet them all, and they welcomed me like I was a new signing – all that sort of stuff. Everyone cares about me and I felt the love, because I’ve always been polite and calm about things. They all want the best for me and today we were able to play really well.”

Is there anyone you are particularly annoyed with?

“Our sporting director has already spoken about everything. I’m just thinking about Roma, I’m just thinking about myself – these are not real problems, we have everything in life and we should only be thankful for that.”