Following Roma’s draw against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the fourth round of the Europa League, Gianluca Mancini spoke to gianlucadimarzio.com. The defender touched on various topics, from the team’s relationship with coach Juric to their journey in the European competition.
Scoring for the ninth consecutive season, Mancini downplayed his personal achievement: “Certainly my goal only counts up to a certain point. It was more important to win, and maybe based on the chances created, we deserved a little bit more. It was a battle of a match, the weather was what it was. We tried to do the maximum of what the coach asks of us, and we’re disappointed and angry about the result because we wanted the three points.”
Despite the complicated path ahead with teams like Tottenham, Braga, Eintracht Frankfurt, and AZ Alkmaar, Mancini expressed the team’s belief in advancing: “We certainly believe because there’s no decision that Roma is out. We believe, we know we’ll have some very tough matches against strong teams. We’ll try to turn the situation around to move forward.”
Mancini also addressed the continued exclusion of Hummels, with Juric preferring to field Cristante in defense: “I’m an admirer of Mats because I’m younger than him. I saw him at the bar with my friends during the Champions League final. I spontaneously call him ‘the professor’ because, just by looking at him, you can tell he’s a champion. He’s integrated very well into the group. He’s a true leader. Even if he plays little, he’s always positive and talks a lot with us, trying to motivate us. As for the technical choices, I limit myself to observing: I can’t answer because this is the coaches’ job.”
Finally, Mancini spoke about Juric’s relationship with the locker room: “Juric still has the team in his hands, certainly. We follow him, we try to do what he asks and what he prepares to the best of our abilities.”
