Zalewski and Kumbulla admit regret after late goal

The Norwegian champions will take an advantage with them to the Stadio Olimpico for next week’s second leg – although Zalewski is confident the Giallorossi have what it takes to turn the tie around and progress to the final four of the competition.

Roma had the lead at the Aspmyra Stadion after Lorenzo Pellegrini’s 12th goal of the season, only for Bodo to score twice in the second half – the second of them coming in the 89th minute – to flip the script.

“There’s regret because it was a game we had control of when it was 0-0, when it was 1-0 [to us] and then even when it was 1-1,” Zalewski said.

“But, like lots of games, key moments make the difference and they had a fair bit of luck in that regard.

“In a week’s time we will face another big battle; we will give it everything we have and we are convinced that we will go through to the semi-finals.”

Defender Marash Kumbulla echoed those sentiments.

“We lacked a bit of concentration, especially for the second goal,” Kumbulla said.

“There’s definitely still room for us to improve. Today we’ve learned something else.

“There’s no point in regretting things now, though; tomorrow we will analyse the mistakes we’ve made in order to improve and push forward.”