Coach of AS Roma, Eusebio Di Francesco ahead of their Champions League group C opener with Atletico has revealed that the match would be a battle between both teams.
“First and foremost I’d like to see a determined side that shows desire to get the result,” Di Francesco, quoted on AS Roma official website said on what he expects from his team. Adding that, “It’s going to be a footballing battle and I hope we do well.
“I want the side to be very well organised, stay nice and tight, play as a team and be competitive in every aspect of the game. It doesn’t matter whether we’re high up the field or deep – we just need to stay compact and keep it tight both going forward and in defence.”
Di Francesco then sang the praises of Diego Simeone’s side saying that they have a very clear identity that gets them the required results.
“It’s less attractive, more practical, but it always achieves results. They’ve reached two Champions League finals and that’s not somewhere you get by chance. They have great mental and physical attributes. In order to compete with them, we’ll need to match their style while staying true to our football identity.”
Di Francesco is aware of the threat players like Antoine Greizmann pose after he emerged Atleti’s highest goalscorer in the competition last season. Also worthy of note is the fact that Atletico Madrid have defeated AS Roma on both occasions the two teams have met in the UCL and the Spanish team has recorded an impressive 7 wins and 3 defeats in 10 meetings with Italian opponents.
Finally, Di Francesco admitted that he would be counting on the experience of his players to put up a good fight against Diego Simeone’s men.
