Monchi: We fully deserved to go through

The Spaniard joined over 60,000 fans in celebrating an incredible night on Tuesday – admitting he enjoyed barely four hours of sleep as he savoured a 3-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico to ensured the side reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for just the second time in their history.

It was a comeback that many had not thought was possible.

“Before the game, I played it out in my head many times,” Monchi said. “I thought it would be very important to score before the half, and to make sure we didn’t concede. We did that, which put us on the right path. Then, as long as we scored the second in good time, the third would come.

“You could feel the dynamic of the match, the way we were playing, the fans’ support, meant that we were growing with each passing minute, while Barca were in more and more difficulty. Scoring the second goal was the hardest part, once Daniele had done that, I started to think that we could win.”

He added: “I think that the reason why we went through was that we outplayed Barcelona, man for man. Yesterday, we were far the better team in my opinion. Of course, they have the stars to change a game at any moment, but I didn’t see us in real difficulty.

“Alisson didn’t have to make any spectacular saves, he had a pretty quiet night. That suggests that we were the better side.

“I think we were better over both legs. If you look at the two teams over 180 minutes in my opinion Roma deserved to qualify. Yesterday, we were the superior team, but also away in Barcelona the result didn’t reflect how well we had played.”

The credit for that, according to the director, goes to the head coach.

“I think that yesterday was Di Francesco’s win as much as anyone’s,” the Spaniard noted. “I spoke to him on Monday evening, to check how he thought the team looked.

“He mentioned that he was planning on changing the formation to a 3-4-3, because he wanted to bring something different, and add more physicality to the team.

“That’s a hard thing to do, to take a risk on a stage like this. It was his conviction that impressed me, a manager has to be able to make hard decisions.”

The Giallorossi can now look forward to Friday’s Champions League draw, where they will learn their semi-final opponents. Liverpool are the only other side currently in the hat.

“Honestly, at this stage, it doesn’t make much difference [who we get in the semi-finals]. I should say Sevilla, because that would mean that they beat Bayern!” Monchi joked.

“Really though, we just have to make the most of any opponent. They don’t come much harder than Barcelona, so we have to continue to have faith in our work. With the support of our fans, we can go as far as we hope. The fans were amazing last night. I had a lot of friends, football people, who came over for the match and were blown away by the atmosphere. It was a magical night.”

He added: “[But] I started thinking about the derby last night. The coach has his focus on it too. We can’t forget that we need points in the league to make sure we stay in the top four.”

Monchi was also quick to pay tribute to the support from the fans.

“Yesterday, on my way from the stadium, I started to understand the passion of the fans,” he noted. “At every traffic light people were taking photos from their cars. When I arrived on my street, there was a crowd of eighty people waiting for me! You really feel how great this club is, how important it is for the people of this city.