Roma captain Daniele De Rossi said that his side were unable to cope with Liverpool’s pace during La Magica’s 5-2 Champions League semi-final defeat at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
Two goals from Mohamed Salah, a double from Roberto Firmino and a second-half strike from Sadio Mane sealed a comfortable first leg victory for Liverpool.
The hosts led 5-0 after 68 minutes and De Rossi said after the match that Roma struggled to deal with the long ball as Liverpool’s front three repeatedly exposed his side at the back.
“Not having seen the game back, it would be wrong for me to give a tactical view of what happened,” De Rossi told Mediaset Premium.
“Liverpool are strong, let’s not forget, and they did very well, but we had 20-25 very good minutes at the start.
“They constantly went for the long ball, from any area of the pitch, and it’s difficult to cover that space when there are players who are always faster than you.
“We got the feeling they were going over the midfield completely, so we couldn’t intercept the ball.”
A late strike from Edin Dzeko and a penalty from Diego Perrotti provided Roma with a lifeline heading into next week’s return leg at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma reversed a 4-1 deficit against Barcelona in the quarter-finals to win 3-0 in the second leg in Rome and De Rossi is hoping for a similar performance from his side next week.
“The only difference is that against Barcelona I saw a game that was unlucky, with many dubious incidents,” he said.
“Here we started strong, but then suffered under their pace and the ferocity of their attacks. We have to learn those lessons for the second leg.
“We felt at the Nou Camp that we were really in it and could certainly break them down. Here, we had a total black-out.
“We still need three goals, Liverpool are on the same level as Barcelona, so we know it’s possible. It can be done and we’ve done it before.”
