GARCIA: "BAD FIRST HALF BUT WE DESERVED A DRAW"
Rudi Garcia felt Roma merited a point despite playing badly in the first half. The coach rued the 3-2 defeat at BATE Borisov, particularly given his side's reaction after the break: "We deserved to earn a point. We did all we could to get one. We were a little unlucky, their effort went in off the woodwork, the same can't be said for us. This is only Matchday Two, there are still four to play. Now we'll need a result against Bayer."
Do you regret the team's first half performance?
"Obviously we got it wrong in the first 45 minutes. Maybe we lacked balance because we conceded three goals from the same flank, then Torosidis came on and sorted things out. We were punished by BATE's clinical finishing and their touch of good fortune. The ball went in off the crossbar for them, whereas the same didn't happen with Florenzi's effort. We didn't deserve to win tonight but we did enough for a point. In the second half we did all we could to get one. In the end, however, we're only two points off second place thanks to Barcelona's win and our aim is to make it through the group."
Is this result a concern in terms of your hopes of qualifying?
"The first five minutes went well tonight but the team fell to pieces after their goal, before we straightened things out in the second half. We played badly in the first period and that's our fault, mine too."
Are Roma missing something?
"We were a little short on numbers tonight. I thought I was picking my best team from an attacking perspective but, as I've said, I got things wrong because the side lacked shape. We're not consistent enough in certain matches, like at Sampdoria, we make too many mistakes. The team showed good mental strength to respond and this is only Matchday Two of the Champions League. There are still four games to play and we'll have to get a result at Leverkusen to qualify."
How do you assess your team's tactical display?
"We lost too many challenges in the first half, whereas we won them all after the interval. We didn't show enough fight in the opening 45 minutes, we weren't aggressive. That's our own fault, as I've said, but we had enough chances to come away with a point despite conceding three goals."
(Photo LaPresse)
