On the eve of the match against Verona which can bring the Giallorossi back among the greats in Europe after seven years: “Kone has recovered, Soulé is better”
“It’s been a very long week.” Gian Piero Gasperini says it with a sigh, aware that now the finish line is truly all in Roma’s hands. Tomorrow with a victory over Verona the Giallorossi would undoubtedly be in the Champions League after 7 years. The coach knows this and tries to allay the fears of the public: “The whole team is on track and is aware of the importance of the match. It’s a very long week, which seems to never end. It would be the finish line of a season which has always seen us very united. And which is worth a lot for the club, for the fans, for the team given that it has been missing for years.”
the secret
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Gasp waits to say he’s good (“In case I’ll do it tomorrow night, it’s not possible yet”) but he’s already taking stock of his first year at Roma. “It hasn’t been an easy year. I tried to bring my method and my way of working. I was lucky enough to find guys who believed in me. This was the secret of the 70 points obtained so far – continues the coach -. We found the feeling, common objectives to develop day by day. 11 months have passed, now what prevails is being able to crown a result that not even we believed in at certain moments. This makes it more eagerly awaited, it depends only on us. Football is cruel, in 90 minutes you risk everything. There have been negative results but maybe the positive ones are forgotten. You have to look at the games Roma have won to achieve goals.” The coach always believed in the Champions League goal even when it all seemed over. “After Bologna I was convinced of it – he reiterates -. The team has started to score goals compared to the beginning of the season and you have the possibility of turning the games around like what happened in Parma. I was convinced of us, of a team that can make a final rush like they are doing. It also depended on the other teams but this does not take anything away from what we did”.
MESSAGE TO THE FRIEDKIN
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And qualification for the Champions League would guarantee additional economic resources to plan an even brighter future. Gasperini knows this and sends an invitation to the Friedkins: “The presence of the owners is fundamental. Fundamental because we avoid unpleasant situations that can arise. Their presence gives strength to the team and the environment. It gives clear and quicker answers than in the past. This will be a gamble. We hope that tomorrow’s positive result can help to have a Roma that is compact and strong in projects and ideas, perhaps making mistakes but with a common objective. I hope for their greater presence which can help all this. Obviously finishing fourth would help to fill the gap gap also with the others in Serie A”. Finally on possible choices: “Koné has recovered, he trained with us all week. He’s not 100% but he’s available, I don’t know if he’ll start. Soulé is better, he started the season well then he had a long stop.”
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