Panucci pride as Roma go through
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Article summary
Stand-in AS Roma captain Christian Panucci said he enjoyed a "great night" after scoring the winner against Valencia CF that earned a place in the last 16.
Article body
Stand-in AS Roma captain Christian Panucci was delighted to get the goal that defeated Valencia CF 1-0 last night to ensure his side's progress into the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Close-range header
Roma needed to beat the group leaders to make sure of their place in the knockout stage and they did just that thanks to Panucci's close-range header on 13 minutes. It is the first time Roma have progressed beyond the first stage since 2002/03, and Panucci was pleased to have played such a key role after replacing the injured Francesco Totti as captain.
'Great night'
"It was a great night for me," he said. "I was wearing the captain's armband, I scored the winner and we reached our first objective of the season, qualifying for the Champions League round of 16. It was not easy tonight because there was so much pressure on us but we are going through a great period and we want to continue on the same path because we have some difficult games coming up, starting with the derby at the weekend."
Winning runs
Safely assured of their progress in Europe, Roma can now turn their attention towards their meeting with S.S. Lazio with confidence high. They have won their past six Serie A matches, scoring 19 goals in the process, and their only defeat in the past 14 games was against FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League.
Lazio test
Roma built a record run of eleven consecutive Serie A victories last season to earn their place in the UEFA Champions League and Brazilian midfielder Taddei believes his side are capable of repeating that feat. "We now have a difficult game in the league ahead of us and we need to take things one game at a time, as we did last season," he said. "We need to work this week and think about the derby."
Tough challenge
With one eye on the draw for the knockout stage on 15 December, Brazilian forward Mancini warned the toughest challenge is still to come. "It's going to get harder now with champions like Chelsea, Barcelona and Lyon ahead, but we just need to give all we've got every game," he said. "We don't want to stop now."
