El Shaarawy ready for first starting role

After coach Paulo Fonseca confirmed that the Italy international would start the last-32 second leg tie at the Stadio Olimpico, El Shaarawy acknowledged that it would be an important moment for him - and a great chance to continue his progression towards peak form and fitness.

Here's everything the forward had to say, as he sat alongside Fonseca for the pre-match press conference at Trigoria on Wednesday.

Can you help us understand just where you are right now in terms of your fitness?

“My fitness is improving, slowly but surely. I’ve now come off the bench twice, because that was part of the fitness plan we set out at the beginning, to help me get into the best shape possible.

“Tomorrow will be the first game I have started for a while now, not since I was with the national team [towards the end of 2020]. But I’m doing a lot better now physically.

“Tomorrow is an important game for the team but also for me for so many reasons: to get minutes under my belt, to build some confidence and, above all, to help the team qualify for the next round.”

How much do you think the club misses having a figure like Francesco Totti within the hierarchy?

“For me it was a great privilege and honour to have played alongside him. We all know the importance he has, both for this club and for this city. He is one of the greatest footballers in both Italian and world history. He always really welcomed me, and I still have a great relationship with him.

“Clearly, in this situation, there are dynamics involved that I am not in a position to comment on. And not just because we have an important game tomorrow and we are all trying to focus on that.”

If there had not been that offside against Benevento, would you have stood up and taken the penalty?

“I think that decision was already taken – it would have been Lorenzo [Pellegrini] to take it. But, anyway, there was an offside and the penalty wasn’t given.

“But, yes, I have tried to make an immediate impact in both of the appearances I have made so far, in order to help the team. Against Braga we were able to get the second goal, perhaps against Benevento we could have done more to win the game sooner.”

On Sunday Roma will face AC Milan, an old side of yours. What do you make of their season and what are the differences between the two clubs?

“Milan are having a great season. They are a strong group, with some great young players and then some big personalities like [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and [Mario] Mandzukic too. Despite the derby loss and the draw in the Europa League, I don’t think they are going through a bad period right now. If anything, they are still doing really well.

“They will be a really tough side to face. But it would be a huge error to start thinking about the game against Milan now, because tomorrow we have another fundamental game in front of us and we will need to be fully focused if we want to qualify for the next round.”

The team now seems to have found a real identity and rarely gives up the ball – have you noticed that too?

“Yes, and I think that is the approach we need to maintain and something we shouldn’t lose sight of. As soon as I came back here I saw the clear identity this group has, an approach where we try to keep the ball and hurt the opposition with it.

“Beyond that, clearly we have some great players that do a good job of producing what the coach wants. And that makes my life easier too, as it is easier to make an impact when you have great players around you to help out. We need to try and maintain this approach, and then improve against the other big sides. I hope that, with my arrival, we will be able to turn things around in that regard and pick up some big results against the top sides too.”