Four Things We Learned: Statement display at Stamford Bridge

Plenty of positives to be drawn

There was unquestionably plenty for Roma to be excited about aftertheir captivating 3-3 Champions League draw with Chelsea.

In a match where the Giallorossi dominated possession, offered plenty of attacking threat and showed immense character to come back from an early two goal deficit, Eusebio Di Francesco was unsurprisingly very happy with his side's efforts.

“When we work in a certain way, all together, as I want us to, we can be very successful," he insisted. "I’m truly satisfied with the performance."

Defensive setup shows positive signs

Di Francesco deserves great credit for the way his team carried out his defensive demands to press Chelsea high up the pitch and disrupt their attempts to pass out from the back. Doing so with unrelenting aggression and conviction, the away side suffocated the English champions by timing and angling their pressing to cut off passing lanes, which in combination with applying such vigorous pressure, regularly forced the Blues into poor decisions on the ball.

"We set up to keep pressing their centre-backs, pushing the wide players up, inviting them to play the ball inside," noted Di Francesco, although he too was aware that small lapses saw the side concede three times.

The below graphic demonstrates how Roma successfully poured numbers upfield to make life as difficult as possible for Antonio Conte's men.

Dzeko’s incisive movement creates openings

While Edin Dzeko's fantastic performance, that was highlighted by his brilliant brace, will be most fondly remembered for his impressive first goal, his intelligent movement certainly warranted special mention too.

The towering Bosnian's underrated understanding of space gave him a fine platform to undertake his work, as he timed his movements beautifully throughout. A glowing example of his aptitude in this regard arose prior to his sublime volleyed opening goal, where he instigated his run on the blindside of his opponent, Andreas Christensen, thus ensuring he had separation and a dynamic advantage to complete his finish in an ideal position.

Perotti freedom gives Chelsea nightmares

Afforded plenty of attacking freedom to weave his magic and connect his side's attacking moves, Diego Perotti performed his tasks very effectively. From his nominal left wing post, he'd drop deep into midfield to help create numerical superiority here, drift over to the right wing to create overloads or venture into the 10 spaces and provide support to Dzeko. His four shots, seven successful dribbles and the fact he was fouled three times aptly illustrated what a positive contribution the technically gifted maestro made in his assigned role.