Alberto De Rossi: We can and must win

Roma’s youngsters have been unable to transfer their electrifying start to the domestic league campaign into European competition but De Rossi hasn’t given up on qualifying from the group despite only picking up two points from the first three games.

“We can and we must win,” claimed De Rossi. “It's annoying having no other option but to get all three points in only the fourth match of the group stage. I rate our opponents very highly – they are top-quality – but we feel we deserve to progress in this tournament. Everything rests on tomorrow's match."

How has the squad been training?

"There's a good atmosphere about the place. It's an important match and the boys are paying a lot of attention to training sessions. It would be very frustrating to get kicked out of the competition in this fashion because I don't think our three group-stage opponents were better than us. My players deserve to have picked up more than two points."

What did you learn from the previous match against Bayer?

"We learned that we need to put away the opportunities we create, as well as keeping concentrated. Towards the end of the game we were all so focused on scoring and winning that we took our eyes off the boil in defense and Bayer managed to nick a victory that honestly they didn't deserve."

Aside from the results, Roma have consistently shown they're equal to the teams they've come up against in the group…

"We've been competitive in every game and on a few occasions we've actually been superior. We may not have got all the points we wanted, but it gives us hope for the future. Now we need to work on the mental side of things."

How important could a good crowd be at Trigoria?

"I've said this before, but these boys really do respond to encouragement from the fans and a good core of support tomorrow could give them a hand. We need everybody's help."