De Rossi: “We aren’t here to make up the numbers”

Find out what boss Daniele De Rossi had to say on the eve of the tie.

You played here many times, but what are your thoughts on coming to San Siro in this new role?

“It was the stadium that I particularly wanted to come back to. In one of my early interviews, I said that I felt it was a shame that we’d already played Inter and AC Milan here. Fate and our European path have allowed us to return to the stadium that possibly transmits something different to me compared with all the others, apart from the ones where I felt at home in my career, one of which is here in Italy and the other is in Argentina.

“It’s a magnificent venue to play football at. It oozes glory. Whether you’re facing Inter or AC Milan, there’s a feeling that whoever has come here has seen brilliant footballers and experienced wonderful nights of football. We’re delighted to be here.”

Is it an advantage or disadvantage to play the first leg away from home?

“It was always said that it was better to play the second leg at home. I think that now away goals no longer count double, this difference has become much less significant. It’s just like the fixture schedule. You have to play everyone sooner or later. That’s how it is. You have to play once at home and once away. You also have to be ready, beyond any external factors and the excitement, and prepare for the tie knowing that it’s over two legs.”

How is Chris Smalling doing?

“He’s doing well and is training with the squad. I didn’t bring him on in the derby to run the clock down, but because I felt he needed his height and defensive quality. He’s doing well. He’s just like the other players here.

“The discussion of managing his minutes is more linked to the fact that we won’t have Evan [Ndicka] tomorrow through suspension and Dean [Huijsen] isn’t in the squad, so we didn’t have many centre-backs left. If you start a player in that situation, you always have the doubt that you might end up in the game with only two centre-backs in [Gianluca] Mancini and Diego [Llorente].

“That was the thinking behind it. Other decisions will be based on how the match is going, but he is doing well. He can play just like everyone else. He’s training hard or even very hard recently. We’re pleased with his recovery and how he’s trained in between returning from the second injury that he sustained and his rehab. He’s pushed hard to get back into the squad and I’m so pleased with him.”

People are interested to see what you’ll decide on down the left wing, where AC Milan are particularly strong, where Roma could attack and where it remains to be seen, given how Paulo [Dybala] often plays centrally when under pressure, how we will get after them. How many hours of sleep have you lost over this?

“We’re aware of how good all the AC Milan players are and when they have possession down the left, they can hurt anyone. It’s not just about Paulo, but it’s about knowing how to move and get into the right areas at the right time in terms of where these players prefer to play.

“I also think that if you’re lucky enough to coach a player like Dybala, you need to ask them to make sacrifices, run hard, show commitment and win duels, but at the same time, you mustn’t ask too much of them either or you may ruin the athletic and mental condition that they need to chase others. I think they’ll be very scared of him too.

“I have a photo on my phone, which is a screenshot from Instagram. Paulo was involved in nine duels in the derby. He battled like real leaders do. That means so much to me. It’s never enough, though. It’s their duty in fact, but when you see these quality players throwing themselves about, sliding in, chasing everyone down, having that energy both for the 70 or 75 minutes on the pitch and the rest in the dugout plus after the final whistle, it makes us feel calm.

“It’s down to me to tell him when, where and how to go into battle and maybe not to get him running up and down the whole flank with Theo Hernandez.”

What do you fear from AC Milan in tactical terms? How do you feel you’ve changed as a man during your three-month tenure as Roma boss?

“I fear the real quality that AC Milan’s players have and also their game. I’ve known their coach for many years and what surprises me and what I admire so much about him is that I met him when he coached a small club and they would pick up points in a certain way. I then saw him at a bigger club, Bologna if I’m not mistaken, and he’d already evolved based on the quality of his players.

“I then saw him again at Lazio, Inter and the Scudetto success [with AC Milan] with incredible quality. I think he’s kept developing and improving. He’s always kept up with the rhythm of the team that he’s had and he’s still like that today. Milan play with harmony and they are a good footballing side. We’ll need to put in a strong performance in terms of our play, character and personality, while also trying to get them to play in areas of the pitch that they don’t like.

“As for the question about me, these three months haven’t changed me but I’ve been so happy every day. It doesn’t alter the way I lead my life. I once spoke about Roman fatalism – ‘It always goes badly.’ ‘We’ll lose anyway.’ ‘We’ve won today but we’ll lose the next one.’ – and I realised that I used to do that ‘odd’ exercise to myself when I’d say to myself that this team wouldn’t take me on and didn’t want me. Maybe it was bad luck. Or another team didn’t take me on because I was too young. All the doors that were slammed shut in my face in the last seven months have led me to this point.

“Every now and then, you also need to realise how fortunate you are because luck is an important part of life and when it you get it, you need to show your worth. Sometimes you might just feel sorry for yourself. If I look at my life overall, however, both on a personal and professional level, it’s almost always gone well.”

You’ve picked up the same number of points as Stefano Pioli since you’ve been in the Roma dugout. Does that make you think you can go toe to toe with them or does the difference in the league table have an impact?

“Thank God, tomorrow the league table doesn’t come into it and there’s no gap to try to recover because these are two different competitions. It’s obvious that if they’ve picked up more points than us in the last few years, it has to be recognised as a universal feat.

“We’re here and we have a semi-final berth to play for. I’ve read somewhere that we have nothing to lose, but we have everything to lose! Roma have a potential semi-final place to lose. We’re not here to make up the numbers.

“In the league, you might say that a draw is a good result when you go to San Siro, but there’s no such thing here. We would need to be rather Machiavellian to think about playing for two draws, going to penalties and getting through. One way or another, and when I say that, I mean having analysed everything we have in terms of our and their potential, we have to try to win tomorrow. If it’s not possible [to win] tomorrow, we’ll need to try to get through to the next round in a week’s time in Rome.”

Did you have to sober the team up after the derby? And how is Gianluca Mancini – physically and mentally after all the controversy over the last few days?

“I made it very clear to them from the start that we needed to keep our feet on the ground, because sometimes winning the derby can be a bit inebriating. You might start thinking you're better than you are because people celebrate as if we'd won ten matches – because to them it is worth ten matches.

“They didn't need me to tell them though because they were all over the moon. That's what I want – smiles and enthusiasm. And then they got back to working hard on the pitch again. That's all I ask – that they work hard on the pitch and listen carefully when I explain our game plan, our line-up, our counter-measures. And they did.

“They've knuckled down in training and done their recovery work. I have complete confidence in them. Seeing them smiling a bit more than usual doesn't scare me or make me think they might take things less seriously tomorrow. Obviously having another big game helps. We probably would have had a bigger job to do [psychologically] if we'd been playing against the team bottom of the league. Then I'd have been a bit more worried. But if you're not properly motivated for a quarter-final at San Siro, then something is not right.

“Mancini is fine. He hasn't been negatively affected by it. He's very happy. He – we all – accepted the sports judge's decision. Some money has been raised to help those youngsters [from La Locanda dei Girasoli] who came to visit us in Trigoria and I'm happy about that. The derby is a closed chapter now and it's fine the way things went.

“He's fine physically and mentally. He couldn't be otherwise after settling the derby the way he did and becoming the hero of city like Rome.”