Fonseca: Anything other than a win would have been unfair

The Giallorossi came away with all three points from the Sardegna Arena despite a frantic 90 minutes, as Nikola Kalinic (twice), Justin Kluivert and Henrikh Mkhitaryan grabbed the decisive goals.

“We had to make a few changes because many of the players were tired after Thursday’s match against Gent," Fonseca said.

"I decided to pick [Nikola] Kalinic, who has been training well, as others also have been. There were good performances from other players too.”

Were you made to suffer a bit too much at the end, given how the game had gone?

“Yes, we shouldn’t be struggling like that at the end. We’d put in very good performance, creating lots of chances to put the match to bed. Before Cagliari took the lead, we’d already created five goal-scoring chances. It wouldn’t have been right had we not won today.”

If you had Henrikh Mkhitaryan in this sort of shape from the start of the season, would Roma’s league standing be a bit different at this point?

“I can’t say one way or the other, but Micki is improving day after day - he’s an important player for us.”

Can Mkhitaryan and Lorenzo Pellegrini play together? Is it an issue?

“These are the problems coaches like to have, not like having to deal with players being missing. We’ve got lots of games to play and there will be opportunities for all the players, but mostly for the best ones.”

How do you avoid conceding goals?

“Our way of playing involves risk, I know that. Bryan Cristante and [Gonzalo] Villar are always key to our preventative marking. We know we’re taking risks but look at how many chances we create in attack. Our opponents didn’t have that many chances to score.”

Will you be able to keep up with Atalanta?

“When other teams are doing well, you need to acknowledge it – Atalanta are excellent in attack. They’re in really good form but we want to fight until the end of the season to get fourth spot. We’ll need to keep playing and fighting to reach that aim.”

How important is it to win the Europa League to get into the Champions League?

“This isn’t the pressure we should be putting on ourselves right now. Our first aim is to beat Sevilla, who are a very strong side. We need to take things one game at a time. We shouldn’t be thinking about the final when we’re up against a team that has won five Europa League titles. In the league, it’s not only Atalanta fighting for fourth spot – Napoli and Milan are getting back in the hunt too.”

Were you happy with how Villar did?

“He is a young player with great quality, as he showed today. Let’s not forget that he was playing in the Spanish second flight not long ago and today he made his first start for us. He took to the field with courage, which is an important quality for me in a midfielder.”

Has Bruno Peres been an unexpected reinforcement?

“Bruno is a full back with attacking qualities, but he needs to improve defensively. He’s got the ability to get past the opposing press, which is something I look for in a full back. He needs to improve his defensive game and react more quickly when he loses the ball – he failed to do that today when they got their second goal.”