Gian Piero Gasperini spoke to Sky Sport after Roma-Genoa (2-0). The Giallorossi coach commented on his team’s victory: “The first half wasn’t easy; it was difficult to measure Genoa. We had a very young team on the pitch, and they played well: we won a match that matters a lot.”

The Grugliasco-born coach on the reaction after the Champions League defeat: “I had no doubts; in terms of character, the group is extraordinary. The match was still difficult, but we broke the deadlock with a fantastic play by Castro. Then the second half was valuable; in the first, we struggled with long balls to manage.”

Gasperini on his growth since last season: “It wasn’t easy last year, I was just arriving. We’ve come a long way. Malen wasn’t there, Dybala was only occasionally present. Now we know more; 15-16 months have passed, and we’ve accumulated matches and successes. We’re scoring with greater ease than last year, and generally our goals are of high quality. We’ve mastered many situations, and we’ve had many opportunities to score.”

The Giallorossi coach spoke about the defeat against Real Madrid: “Losing like that was devastating because we had put in an extraordinary performance in terms of both the scoreline and the chances. We made things difficult for ourselves in seven minutes with three corners that were the result of nothing. Real Madrid were struggling, and that bothered us. I had no doubts about our response despite the absences. I deliberately chose to make a lot of changes because many of the players had a lot of energy. Then we faced Genoa, who were causing us tactical problems. In the second half, we did well.”