Luciano Spalletti in full ahead of Real Madrid v Roma

Here's the full transcript of the Giallorossi coach's pre-match press conference.

Have you thought back to what you achieved here eight years ago?

"I think they're two different situations. That game is a fond memory that's nice to dig up every now and again. There are few players on either side who were playing on that occasion. The main thing is the players know that the result of any game depends on the effort they put in on the pitch. This time it's a bit more difficult because the result from the first leg puts us at a disadvantage. We mustn't think about the result. If we get caught up thinking about having to score three, it will be very hard. Other things happen in a game of football - there are psychological aspects that can be crucial. We have to set out to score one goal tomorrow. If we do that, the game takes on a different complexion from the outset. That's what we have to focus on: scoring just one goal. Clearly they're at an advantage because they can take a more balanced approach after the result from the first leg, but a goal would change everything for us."

There's talk of an Italian coach taking over in the Real Madrid hotseat next year. Would you like that?

"Thank you, it's nice to hear that but we have to stay in the moment. It's always good to hear or read these things. What matters to me most is that if we're able to pull it off tomorrow, we can change our history. Anything else is secondary."

How much did you miss the game before coming back to Roma and how much do you like the adrenaline this job gives you?

"I'm in control of my life and I was able to choose. In this case I wanted to return to coaching and when the sporting director contacted me, I said I was available. Obviously, there are parts of the job that cause problems for you and might anger or put pressure on you, but it's a beautiful game. I made this life choice and I hope to remain here and live with it for as long as I can."

Some fans are more interested in bowing out with honour than trying to qualify for the next round. Do you understand and share that position?

"I believe it would be a mistake to think like that at the moment. We have to send out a clear message to our team. Anyone who does my job asks a lot of their team and sometimes I go one step further – I ask for the impossible. Watching my team in training yesterday, it seemed to me that I could ask them to go that little bit further. That means it's a path we can go down - it is possible. However, as I said before, you get incidents in a game that determine the final scoreline. We mustn't be weak mentally and think we're playing to lose - that's an awful thing to accept. If one of my players thought that today, he wouldn't only miss the game, I wouldn't even let him train."

Is Edin Dzeko low on confidence or is it more of a tactical issue?

"Dzeko is doing his job exactly as he should be. Clearly I've made some choices that come from me and not his performances. The team has been playing well so far, so I can't have done everything wrong, but he offers something different to the tactical set-up I've wanted the team to use. Looking at the game tomorrow, since Real Madrid have the luxury of being able to sit back a bit more, Dzeko has a bigger chance of being useful to us. He has only one route to take – showing me that he is capable of much more than what he's doing now."

Seeing as Antonio Rudiger and Radja Nainggolan are unavailable, could you change your tactical set-up?

"Are you talking about Dzeko still? He might start tomorrow because – as I've already mentioned – we need to do something extra to break through their defensive organisation and he has the right attributes to do that."

What can you say about Cristiano Ronaldo's form at the moment?

"With Ronaldo, you shouldn't just look at the goals he scores but the player as a whole. He has unbelievable quality. They have the opportunity to sit back and play on the counter, while we need to make something happen. The result from the first leg is harsh on us given how we performed. Let's say we were unlucky in certain moments. We should have got more reward for our efforts in that match, so we'll play tomorrow as we did in Rome."

What would you take from the Roma side that won here in 2008?

“That was a team that had been together for a while and they had a very clear playing style that everyone bought into. Sometimes you have to make the players realise where you want to be. That Roma side was coming off the back of a couple of solid seasons. This team has shown constant improvement in these nine games, there's room for plenty more and their mentality is growing too.”

What has Stephan El Shaarawy found at Roma?

“He's discovered the enthusiasm of a set of fans and a city that give all the love you need to be happy. If you work hard as a Roma player, you get given ever so much. He hasn't found anything particular in me. He's a determined, hard-working lad who's done it all by himself. He came here set on proving himself because he hadn't been performing to the best of his ability and he knows that. Before coming here he knew exactly what he had to do and what he had to strive for. He's done it all by himself. I take my hat off to him because he's a great player and he's Italian, so we can offer his services to Antonio Conte too.”

Should we expect to see a bolder Roma tomorrow?

“That's what it's all about. There's been a radical shift in the Italian game, there's more football played on the deck now – very similar to what you get in Spain. You can't expect things to go well if you let Real Madrid take the initiative. We'll give it a go, it won't be easy but we must be brave enough to impose our ideas and our game plan. If we play with that attitude I'm sure we'll find a bit more space to play our game. We have lots of players who are good at keeping possession and who have the qualities we need.”

What do you think of Zinedine Zidane's work as a coach?

“I can't say a lot about his work because I haven't seen him going about it on the pitch. I think he's conveyed his ideas to his team and you have to remember the ability and character he had as a player. He was the best in every sense and if he can make his players understand that it will make everything easier for him. World-class players like him have certain advantages – they understand lots of things because they were leaders, whereas people like myself have to learn things. But I've been lucky enough to work with many players who have given me lots of useful input.”

So will Roma be more aggressive than they were in the first leg?

“We have to set out to control the game. What does being aggressive mean? Leaving space for your opponents to exploit by pouring forward into their half all the time? No, but I do expect us to know when to step it up and really get at them. We have to believe we can boss this game. Look at the first leg: There were certain situations where you can see the result could have turned out completely different. We got our approach right. But of course your mind and determination can make all the difference at the crucial moment. If we remember what we did in the first leg, it should give us belief. Perhaps if we'd just showed that extra ounce of belief we might have been able to pull certain things off. We mustn't have that weakness or that fear tomorrow."

What's your opinion of Gareth Bale?

“He's a player who can do a bit of everything. He drops back to help the team, he's got great technique, can score with his head or his feet – any way you want. It's easy to pay him compliments. But if I have to dish our praise I'd rather do it to my own players because they're playing really well at the moment.”