De Rossi: "Tough to take on Bologna in such a big match"

Here's what the Giallorossi coach had to say...

It was a very tough game against Milan. From a physical point of view: has everyone recovered? And how is Romelu Lukaku? If he can't feature, who can replace him?

"Romelu will not be in the squad against Bologna. He had a minor muscle problem. We'll understand in the next few days how minor and how long it will take him to return, but we're confident it's nothing serious.

"One of [Sardar] Azmoun and Tammy [Abraham] will play. We'll know from today's training session. And I won't rule out using both of them during the game. We come into this after a game that took a lot out of us from a physical and mental point of view – to stand firm and defend against a team like Milan, the lads put in an incredible effort.

"But, to sum up, we've recovered and we're ready to play tomorrow."

What's special about Thiago Motta's Bologna side?

"I've already said it in various press conferences; Bologna are the most exciting, most fascinating team in the league. For me Milan, Inter and Fiorentina play good football, but they have the baseline players to rank that high in the table.

"Perhaps Bologna were built for a usual mid-table season, instead they are producing a masterpiece, which is why my compliments to Thiago and the club, who have built such a team, are always sincere.

"Tactically, they're a very fluid team. The centre backs move around a lot; they get up the field – we do something quite similar – and position themselves well. They're fascinating to watch and difficult to study. It'll be equally tough to take them on in such a big match. I have great respect for Thiago and for the team, as I said.

"It will be an advantage for us that [Lewis] Ferguson won't be there, but I wanted to send a hug to the lad, because he's missing the European Championship. For a footballer I know it's a devastating thing."

I would like to return to the game postponed to 25 April. Ligue 1 postponed the matches of Marseille and PSG to help them out. Roma issued a statement, do you think there has been lack of protection from the Italian football institutions of Roma, who have done very well in Europe?

"I am completely in line with the club as regards the content of the statement. We've spoken about it often, with Maurizio [Lombardo], with Lina [Souloukou], with the presidents. You mentioned Ligue 1, the Bundesliga, helping their teams. But already with Serie A, the Lega has helped our teams playing in Europe by managing the schedules, so we go into these games in the best way.

"That doesn't guarantee you a win, but it does at least guarantee you the best possible recovery. And here a peculiar precedent has been set; it is the first time – in my memory – that a team has not been granted the best scheduling ahead of such an important semi-final.

"I am disappointed that President [Lorenzo] Casini did not listen to our requests, which were legitimate and sacrosanct. I am disappointed that the head of competitions, [Andrea] Butti – a football man, was at Inter for so many years and accompanied Inter's ride to the treble – did not help us and was not understanding, because he's been in football.

"He knows very well that one day more or less, even with regard to travel, can be decisive for a team. Having said that, full stop. Otherwise, you trigger the Florida effect as professor Gianni Venturati used to tell me. That is, how words repeated over and over in your head make you feel tired, not recovered, weak.

"It is an experiment that you can go and look up on the internet if you want. It can be devastating if we keep saying that we are tired, that they didn't help us, that they didn't allow us to recover, that they didn't protect us. That's what happened, but we are always in contact with the players, every day, now we will deal with this elsewhere."

How does Roma's attacking style change with Abraham and with Lukaku? And then in your idea of football, could we see Paulo Dybala as a false nine one day?

"The first one I can't really answer. Tammy is a player I have seen very little of, but he is a force of nature – he has an infectious enthusiasm, which we have to channel into football itself. Sometimes he wastes energy, directed at the referee or the fans, or with the ball, with the boot.

"If we manage to channel all that energy, which comes from the strength he has as well as the repressed anger of nine months because of the injury, which kept him on the sidelines, we have a very strong player on our hands. I want to study him properly. I have to be the one to understand him.

"He is already getting a good understanding of what I want from centre forwards. He's a fascinating player to coach. He has huge potential. He's not too different from Romelu. There's the difference in age – one is perhaps more experienced, the other a little less, but he's a player who, by working on it, can become as devastating as Romelu.

"Dybala? Yes, that's a good question. I've thought many times about playing with a false nine like Paulo. In my opinion you have to have players full of running on the flanks. You have to have explosive players out wide, who attack in behind, with lots of energy, which is not really the number one quality we have in the squad.

"I would love to do it, but we have to combine that with attacking high. Otherwise, we'll produce another performance like we already have. Fractions of the game where we are forced to go back on ourselves and risk getting hurt as we look to attack again."

A tactical question about Lorenzo Pellegrini. He strikes much more from distance and it's a danger. Is that something you demand or is it part of the team's more proactive attitude?

"He's scored several goals from that position. It's normal for a player finding themselves in that position there, playing on the left of a midfield three, and being right-footed, to be more inclined to stop the ball and bring it inside.

"Maybe for Bryan [Cristante] and Edoardo [Bove], who play on the other side, with their strong foot it's easier to go on the outside. These are on-field dynamics. He is really good tactically. Sometimes he amazes not only me, but also my staff members, who say: 'I didn't think he was so strong and intelligent.' I add that, in terms of athleticism, I've found him to be a different player, more developed. Athletically he is an incredible player."

Claudio Lotito, Italian senator, Lazio president and FIGC board member, said with emphasis that Evan Ndicka went into hospital after a code yellow incident and the match could have continued. I wanted to know your thoughts.

"I had prepared for this one… Here is a tweet from 20:42 that day, from the official SS Lazio account, which read: 'Forza Evan, we are with you.' And I have never seen a tweet from a football team over a code yellow. So obviously, at 20:42, when we had just left the stadium, there was a perception that it might be something very serious.

"It wasn't and I think we should all be happy. I don't think anyone should hold it against us that our friend, our boy didn't die, that he's not still in hospital recovering from a heart attack. I spoke about the rot you see on social media, with people who write things like: 'There's nothing wrong with him, you did it to get another 20 minutes.'

"I think out of 30,000 people at the stadium, there wasn't a single one who may have thought we had an advantage by not finishing the game. You know, you say: 'You suspended it in the first half, we were playing badly, you played smart.'

"In the second half the momentum after Lukaku's goal was all our way. If you were really to go and judge the usefulness of that stoppage, we've got something that goes very much against our interests and of the result.

"I'll say it again, if it's direct messages from 15-year-old kids or die-hard fans who only see the football result, who don’t see any further than their own noses, it's annoying for the first 15 seconds, then it passes.

"If we do that too, within the football system, even with the talks we had with Butti, Casini, this is what happens. As if the fact that he didn't die, or that it wasn't very serious, was our fault, our mistake. As if it wasn't enough that we were very scared that one of our players, one of our friends, one of our comrades, one of our footballers – who could be a player for any team. It's a shame, a pity. We lose that momentum that we should all have to improve a little bit.

"And I'm sorry that the president has done it too. I have a good relationship with him – beyond our respective affiliations. But this time he made a mistake – he said something that should not have been said. I read that he perhaps said it in front of a buffet, in a particular situation, maybe he just took a swing. But we always miss opportunities to take a step forward in these situations. Above all, we, the football world, should be more sensitive. If someone puts concern for the life of a person, friend, comrade and player first, we should all agree, as Udinese did, as did other people in the football world who showed solidarity. Not only at 20:42, but up until today."