FONSECA: "WE DIDN'T DO WELL IN THE FINAL THIRD"
Roma's coach Paulo Fonseca spoke in his post-match press conference following Juventus-Roma 3-1, quarter-final stage of the Coppa Italia 2019/2020.
“I think the difference in the first half was in how effective either side were. The first time Juventus got close to our goal they scored and the same happened the second time. We played well up until the final third, but there we lacked a little bit of quality.”
How significant was the absence of Edin Dzeko against a team like Juventus?
“We know that Dzeko is a very important player for us. That said, I don’t think our issues were all about [Nikola] Kalinic tonight – all of our forward players could have done better in the game. [Justin] Kluivert and Cengiz [Under] made many mistakes in the first period. The difference was in that final part of the pitch.”
You’ve not got many players available and the derby is coming up on Sunday. Amadou Diawara was forced off today. Are you worried?
“Very much so. Let’s see how Diawara is. We don’t have many players available at the moment. Hopefully Amadou isn’t seriously injured and will be able to play in the next game. We’ll need to think about how to approach the next game with the players we have.”
There were several lapses in terms of positioning, as was the case in the game in Rome. How do you plan on sorting that out ahead of the Lazio game?
“These are two different games – Lazio don't play in the same way. Nonetheless we have to improve in how we set ourselves up, especially since we conceded twice from counter attacks today. It’s something we need to work on. We need to think about the next game with confidence. My only concern is getting the players we can back fit and facing Lazio in what will be a very difficult game.”
(Photo Getty Images)
