Roma came away from the Allianz Stadium empty handed after narrowly losing 1-0 to Juventus on Sunday.
A goal from Moise Kean was the only of the game – although Roma would have had one of their own if Daniele Orsato had allowed play to flow when Tammy Abraham put the ball in the net a second after the awarding of a penalty, which Jordan Veretout subsequently missed (the first time he has ever misplaced a spot kick for the club).
It was an otherwise fairly even affair, but there was little goalmouth action.
It means Roma will have to pick themselves up again for their upcoming challenges against sides of similar calibre.
Jose Mourinho was brought in to help in that regard and this is what he made of the Juventus game.
On Roma’s performance
“All I can say is we were really good – and I’ve already told my players that. Obviously we are talking about a game that we lost and didn’t get anything from. We can look at the table and see we didn’t add any points. But we were really good in all aspects. I have to congratulate everyone within the organisation, from the medical department who worked so hard to get our players fit to some of the players themselves who put in a real effort to play in this game. We all worked together as a group in order to put in a great performance – one full of concentration, confidence and courage.”
On the final result
“Obviously it’s a defeat and it will always be a defeat in my eyes. But if I look at it in terms of the project, if I look at the growth of the squad and the way they are playing, then… I can be wrong, I can have a different perspective to you all, but I think the team that deserved to win this game most is the one that lost. But that’s football.”
On how Roma set up
“We had a gameplan for this one, we stopped them from counter-attacking completely. Even though we wanted to play pretty high up the pitch, we still managed to stop them on the counter, which is pretty good when Juventus have really dangerous players on the counter like [Juan] Cuadrado and [Federico] Chiesa. We built our play in central areas. Obviously, when you play against a side that really defends well like Juventus, with two great centre-backs in there, it’s not easy. But I think we did enough to win the game or at least come home with a draw.”
On Abraham trying to take the penalty instead of Veretout
“Abraham is a courageous boy and full of confidence. He was involved in the build-up to that penalty and, even just before that, he had been involved in a moment that had really lifted the rest of the team. But we have a hierarchy for the penalties: Veretout is the primary taker, then there’s Lorenzo Pellegrini and Tammy Abraham is third in line. But, in the heat of the moment, if someone wants to take the penalty and Jordan decides to let them, that’s not a problem for me.”
On how Abraham is settling in
“This league is different to the one he’s come from. And the way he wants to play, especially defensively, is a bit different from what we want to do. We have different tactical positions when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball. For the latter we have a 4-4-2 and it’s vital that he and Lorenzo Pellegrini always know when to press and when to close the spaces. That’s the work of any No. 9, but in England the No. 9 often pushes very high up. Of course, Abraham still has the chance to break in behind the defence. But we are not a counter-attacking side; we are a side that wants to defend in a solid 4-4-2. He is learning that and it’s a process for him to adapt.”
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