De Rossi: “We need points and we know we can get them”

Read what the Giallorossi boss had to say...

Thursday took a lot out of the team and you don't have much time to recover. Where are you in terms of managing the energy levels?

“We're at the start, even through the game is almost upon us. Today we need to continue assessing the lads' physical condition and weigh up a few minor problems we've got. When you play Thursday and Sunday is pretty tough to prepare much in terms of tactics and to get back to fitness. But this team has got used to going on long European runs in recent seasons. We don't have many games left and we always have very little time to prepare for the next one, but that's the good and the bad of going all the way in Europe. We'll look at condition today. Yesterday we just chatted. After a defeat, the psychological aspect means you tend to feel a bit more pain the next day. When you win, the day after everyone is fine and wants to play again. Today we'll have a good look at what happened, although I don't think we have any real injuries.”

Massimilaino Allegri is often described as a 'risultatista' [results] coach. How do you face a team like Juventus?

“First of all, Allegri is a coach that you have to face with great respect because he's made Italian football history and is still leading his team at the highest level.

“I also have a bit of a soft spot for him because he used to play with my dad. My dad told me about when this young, very promising player was playing with him. So I've always kept an eye on him during his career. I'm not going to be drawn into the risultatisti or giochisti (results or good football) debate anymore. I've already shared my thoughts on that. It's not even a debate in my book. I've only had a few months of coaching and I realise how difficult it is to win a game and to go all the way in a competition.

“I could never have any less respect than I do for coaches like him, [Jose] Mourinho and [Carlo] Ancelotti. They've made football history and are still coaching at the highest level.

“As for Juventus, you have to face them like any other team: with good preparation, knowledge and awareness of who you're playing against. They haven't had the best run of results recently. They've alternated some very good performances – like the first leg against Lazio – and others where they've struggled. They're looking to wrap up that Champions League spot.

“We need points and we know we can get them, especially as we're playing at home. We need all of our players to produce an exceptional performance and the fans too. We need them to keep pushing us for another four or five games, so that we can go all the way to the end side by side, as we always have.”

How is Paulo Dybala? Can be play? A win tomorrow could take Roma to within two points of Bologna and three of Juventus.

“Sometimes I like to keep things to myself and not let people in on our team news, but this time I really don't know what condition the lads are in. I'll see them in a few hours' time. We'll have a fairly light training session and prepare for the game. Tomorrow morning we'll have another half an hour to finalise our plans – that's something we don't normally do but we're going to this time and we can do that with the pitches here in Trigoria.

“We'll work on the last two or three things. I haven't told them the line-up yet either. In any case, Paulo, besides being an ex-Juventus player himself, is fine. He's sad that we lost, as we all are. He ran a lot and physically he's been looking very good. He's the player that's most surprised me fitness-wise. On a technical level there's no surprise – we've all seen what he's been capable of in the last few months.”

Roma have taken 18 points from a possible 33 after playing in the Europa League. Clearly this competition takes a huge effort – and not just for Roma – besides being a big temptation. In light of the first-leg result against Leverkusen, which has somewhat compromised your position, is it better to make a choice? Do your priorities change so that you can manage the players' fitness levels?

“If our position is 'somewhat compromised', it means it hasn't been compromised. It's obviously harder than it was, and it was already a very tall order. Now we'll need to go there and get a difficult result against a team that hasn't lost in 47 matches. We know it will be very tough but we can do it. Roma have done it before and other teams have pulled off similar feats. Atalanta beat Liverpool 3-0 away a few weeks ago. Anything can happen in football. If a couple of things had gone the other way in the first half an hour of the first leg, it would have become a whole different scenario.

“The same goes in the return leg: if we score in the opening 30 minutes, who knows how things might pan out? It's a dream for us and for our fans. We can sense how much it means to them so we can't afford to apply any strange reasoning. We do have to manage our fitness levels because the league is important to us as well. We need to finish in the Champions League positions. We'll make choices because we can't field the same starting XI that played on Thursday or the same team against Bayer in Germany. But we're not giving up on either objective.”

Do you have any particular memories from your games against Juventus?

“I played so many. I didn't expect this question. I remember once we were playing them at the Stadio Delle Alpi and we were behind. I came on in the second half and [Jonathan] Zebina scored a late equaliser to make it 2-2. I was very young and at that age getting a good result against a great team was a big deal and felt like the realisation of a dream.

“I remember winning 3-2 in Turin in the snow then we lost the return leg at home 1-0 but still went through.

“Lots of moments, and lots of matches lost too. I have good memories. Perhaps the worst was after a defeat in 2009, when we lost to a Juventus team with Felipe Melo and Diego and I scored but afterwards [Luciano] Spalletti resigned. That was a really tough week for us.

“Those are the memories I have. I could list loads but I don't have an exceptional memory. In any case, they're great opponents and it's nice to play them at the Olimpico. We know what it means to our fans and there's an awful lot riding on it for us too.”

Going back to the game on Thursday, some of the analyses of the game say Bayer Leverkusen gave you a lesson in football. I wanted to ask you your opinion about that. And also to ask whether you might rotate sensibly tomorrow using the alternatives available to you.

“Regarding the first part of the question, I read people saying I gave [Stefano] Pioli a lesson in football in Milan and that was a very evenly balanced game – and after the match I told you it was a very evenly balanced game. I read 'De Rossi kills De Zerbi, 4-0' and after the match I said that we weren't four goals better than them, that they [Brighton] had played really well despite the result. I read 'De Rossi cages Tudor' after we won the derby 1-0, a really good game that we played well and deserved to win, but it was balanced.

“This job won't change me. At least it hasn't so far. I won't come here and sing my own praises or beat my chest when I can see that matches are a lot closer than they might seem. I can see that some people don't analyse matches much technically. I'm not talking about you [journalist Daniele Lo Monaco], because with you I sometimes talk about tactical or technical matters, but the result can distort people's view. Sometimes it blinds people and sometimes it helps the journalist to say what they want to say. For example when they want to big me up and massacre Pioli, because they couldn't wait to have a go at him in the press conference in Milan, and so a 1-0 away win – which was a great result and a great performance – becomes a 'lesson in football' because we switched [Stephan] El Shaarawy from right to left, which is not rocket science.

“Football and articles are based on results. Sometimes because people choose to do so and other times because they don't have the tools to analyse and understand the game a bit better. I say that as someone who does understand football and without wanting to offend anyone.

“If I'm analysing a film, I'll say whether I liked it or not, that I liked this or that actor or actress. My wife might then comment on an aspect of the photography that I hadn't even noticed. That's football: results orient people in a certain direction. And sometimes it might offer an opportunity to someone who had been waiting for three months to say that I was outclassed by another coach.

“Having said that, the opposition coach is very good. He prepared for the game very well and they had spells where they played well. They're very good but in the first half an hour I think we were the better side.

“I think the goal maybe knocked us out of our stride, partly because of the way we conceded, and that's something we need to work on. You can concede a goal but you mustn't lose your shape and organisation

We kept trying to score right till the end and I'm not just happy but proud of the way my players performed – all of them, even those who made mistakes. As for alternatives, we do have them and I make choices.

“I consider some of our players to be indispensable because of the form they're in and the type of team we have now. It's been built a certain way, with not that many players who like to go past their man, with that burst of pace, who are lethal in one-on-ones like some of the Bayer Leverkusen players are. So for example, as long as Dybala can play, I'll play him. He may not be as fast as [Jeremie] Frimpong, for example, but with his class and skill, he can create a numerical advantage. He cuts through opponents' pressing and can create a goal in the space of a square cm at any moment.

“It's not that the reserves or alternatives aren't good enough, but when I see such amazing footballers with such ability, I tend to want to stick with them. We'll see at the end of the season if I did the right thing.”

Do you see the potential and the foundations to build a similar model here to what Bayer Leverkusen have done, given that you came in mid-season as Xabi Alonso did last year?

“Definitely. I spoke to the owners just yesterday. You used the word 'model' and that's the same word I used. A team that has never won anything in Germany – we're not talking about Real or PSG here. A team that had never won anything and sold players to rebuild. But they worked in the right direction.

When I talk about a model, I also mean the physical, technical and individual attributes I'll be looking for in June. But it's still a bit early for that now. As I've said before, the team I have is capable of going all the way. Looking at the performances, the points we've earned, the players' willingness and commitment in training and matches, the minutes they've played, I have to respect this squad. The fact that in June we might look for certain attributes is normal because every coach wants certain things in their squad, but that doesn't mean Leverkusen's players are all better than ours.

“It means that being used to always going one on one in attack and winning, and doing it in defence and winning, is a quality I really like to see in teams. It's no coincidence that one of the Primavera youngsters I always have with me is Joao Costa. He has a long way to go but when he enters, he takes on allcomers, he shoots, he's not afraid, he's pacy. But I'm talking about attributes. I'm not saying I'd prefer to have Leverkusen's players than my own.

“My players have got me this far and have done some incredible things I'll never forget. I'm going to ask them to pull out all the stops in the last five games then, like any other coach, I'll plan for next season and will ask for certain qualities when it comes to summer signings.”