Alberto De Rossi: We deserved to go through

The Giallorossi U19s booked their place in the play-offs with a convincing 3-0 victory over BATE Borisov this afternoon but De Rossi believes his side haven't always got the results their Group E displays warranted.

"I think we've deserved to go through all along," the coach began, "especially considering how well we performed in our three previous games when we picked up just two points.

"Losing to Leverkusen in such cruel fashion in Matchday Three could have been a huge psychological blow for the boys but we never stopped believing."

Nowhere was that belief more evident than in the Under-19s' last game away to Barcelona, where they battled back from 3-0 down to rescue a point.

"We pulled off a minor miracle at Barcelona then managed to get the win today, and with it qualification from the group,” added De Rossi. “Now we can start thinking about who we'll have to face in the play-off. Roma should always be challenging up near the top and so far we've managed to do that."

The Primavera boss also stressed how impressed he was by the team's display against the Belarusians in Trigoria on Wednesday afternoon.

"We deserved to take the lead but afterwards it took us a while to wrap the game up. We were always in control of things though and we didn't let our opponents have much of a sniff. It was a highly creditable victory."

Roma U19s will find out the name of their next opponents when the play-off draw is held on 14 December. The Giallorossi will be the away team for a single-leg tie to be played in February.