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Roma gave their all for Barcelona draw

Rudi Garcia said Roma "sacrificed themselves and did what we planned to" in holding Barcelona, with Luis Enrique acknowledging a series of opportunities had gone begging.

Luis Enrique directs Barcelona against Roma
Luis Enrique directs Barcelona against Roma ©AFP/Getty Images
  • Rudi Garcia says Roma "sacrificed themselves" in getting a draw with Barcelona
  • Luis Enrique describes Alessandro Florenzi's long-range goal as "outstanding"
  • Holders unable to convert host of chances at Stadio Olimpico

Rudi Garcia, Roma coach
It's an important result for us. Drawing with Barcelona will give us confidence for the future and for the rest of the competition. We were very good tactically and all players were involved in the game, sacrificing themselves. We could have done better on the counterattack and with the final ball for our chances, where we could have been more dangerous, but I am happy because my players did pretty much what we prepared for this evening.

The team has grown since last year, which has helped us to gather experience. We can do great things. We have players who are familiar with this competition like Mohamed Salah and Edin Džeko, but everyone played very well, like Morgan De Sanctis and Manuel Iturbe when they were involved.

Luis Enrique, Barcelona coach
We need to wait for the diagnosis but it looks like Rafinha's knee injury is quite bad; this is the worst thing that could happen to us on this matchday. The injury in the second half stopped play a bit and took away some of the team's verve, just like Roma's goal did in the first half. We had a lot of chances but Florenzi's goal came with a slice of luck. These are the kind of risks we take with our sort of defence.

Neymar reacts to missing a chance for Barcelona
Neymar reacts to missing a chance for Barcelona©AFP/Getty Images

When you play in these competitions – with the physical and technical level there is – and you meet a side who stay tight, it's difficult ... even if we did have our chances. I think it was a game we deserved to win.

We clearly had more possession and created lots of opportunities, but we came up against a very strong Roma team who defended well. I'd have expected them to be more attacking, but they chose this type of game and succeeded in getting a draw. Alessandro Florenzi's goal was outstanding and got Roma back into the match.

I can't say the exact number but I think we had at least six clear chances and that's usually enough to win a game, especially as we conceded very little in addition to Florenzi's goal and a shot by Radja Nainggolan. We needed to be more effective, although we did everything to win.
 




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