Roma Women got their UEFA Women's group stage campaign off to the perfect start on Thursday night, as they beat Slavia Prague 1-0 in Latina.
Valentina Giacinti scored the only goal of the game against the Czech champions, as the Giallorosse delighted the 2,000 fans in attendance on their debut in the competition.
Here's what coach Alessandro Spugna had to say after the game...
How important was it to begin the group stage with a win?
"In the end the result is massive for us. However, I would like to underline just how tough a game it was. The great thing is that the team recognised when they needed to dig in and get through a tough period - and then in the second half they came out and got their rewards, thanks in part to some tweaks we made during the break.
"We were able to create a few nice openings for ourselves and we managed to get the goal from one of them. Perhaps we should have had another, which was wrongly disallowed, but it wasn't decisive in the end - the key thing is we got the three points from a really tough match."
Roma always seemed to have control of the game, they didn't seem to be too troubled by Slavia at times...
"In terms of the flow of the game, maybe not. Clearly we had to ride our luck a bit on a couple of occasions, but we were also prepared well - because we know they are a really physical side and through that they were able to cause some problems.
"Perhaps in the first half we struggled a bit to pass the ball around like we usually do. In the second half, though, we had a bit more courage and we were able to create a few more chances."
This Roma side are also able to win ugly when the situation demands it...
"It's part of the development of the side, game-by-game. These are the sort of matches that build confidence and understanding. So, yes, even if it was an ugly game at times - in the end we got the result we needed."
Did you expect so many fans to follow the team here to Latina?
"I hoped so. It's really good. We have to thank the fans, because they cheered us on - especially in the tougher moments of the match. We felt their presence. And that's a massive thing for us."
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