Roma-Milan, De Rossi: "Exceptional match. I'm proud of the boys"

Rome, 18 April 2024 – He goes to Roma the Europa League derby: in fact, the Giallorossi repeat the success obtained a week ago at San Siro and beat the Rossoneri 2-1 in the second leg too, thus gaining the pass for the semi-final where they will find Bayer Leverkusen. The one-two scored by the Capitoline players between the 12th and 22nd minutes was deadly, when Mancini scored first - also decisive in the first leg and this time quick to surprise the Rossoneri defense by reiterating the goal of Pellegrini finished on the post - and then Dybala with a left-footed shot. Having ended up 2-0 down but left with numerical superiority due to Celik's dismissal after half an hour, Milan then threw themselves forward in a long assault with white weapons (63% of ball possession and eleven corners taken against zero of Roma), but he sinned in terms of lucidity, competitive wickedness and concreteness in the presence of a Roma who instead defended themselves with order, trying to restart with a monumental El Shaarawy like what was done in the first leg and which was hit only when the match was practically over by Gabbia's flag goal. There couldn't have been a better way for the Giallorossi coach Daniele De Rossi to celebrate the contract renewal announced this morning by the Capitoline club: “There was no better way – De Rossi began on Rai Uno -. I was a little afraid that all this could ruin the rest of the day because there was only the race to think about, but also that the final result could ruin this good news. Instead, we were rewarded by an exceptional match from the boys. I'm really proud to be their coach, because they knew how to do everything: a good start, looking for depth like on the occasion of the second goal and then fighting like big teams must be able to do, not just small ones. Real Madrid taught us this yesterday. I'm proud of both when we played with eleven and when we did it with ten. These are two aspects that are part of the prerogatives of great teams. We cannot think of putting our opponents under all the time, but we must be aware that we also face great teams like Milan, who are trained well and in my opinion played two good games. You also need to know how to suffer. The expulsion complicated things for us a bit, but then we did what we said, knowing that maybe a goal would come and knock them out. Maybe it was a bit like that. They continued to attack well but the more time passed the less strength they had." Honorable mention for El Shaarawy: “I could mention anyone. The guys on the bench were also crazy, but I've known El Shaarawy for many years, as a kid he was less of a player. What he did tonight is incredible. Something beautiful to see and that gives a coach pride." Now head to Leverkusen: “This qualification gives strength. Going through to the next round against an incredible team like Milan means doing well. We will play against an undefeated team and we will be ready to try to put them in difficulty." The mood on the Rossoneri side, where he is present, is opposite a Stefano Pioli very disappointed by his team's subpar performance: “Roma deserved it because they fielded more quality than us. In both games we perhaps had a few more offensive opportunities but we weren't able to materialize them. In the second half we should have scored immediately to reopen the game but we didn't manage it. They were two games that were not up to par and not played with quality. I thought the team could play better, play the match and win it, so I'm not satisfied." On the confrontation between the team and the fans at the end of the match: “From what they tell me, there was talk about the importance of the derby on Monday. Clearly they will not have been happy with our performance and this elimination." Pioli then dribbled away any questions relating to the future: “The future is to think about the next match, then the sums will be drawn in the end. It was an important event, but this year we were not inferior to last year in Europe. We must aim to do better in the championship because we have a few more points than last year, but we need a reaction and a great derby."