Roma boss Rudi Garcia has revealed that he wants his team to be strong enough to put up a good fight in both the Champions League and the Serie A next season.
The 50-year-old tactician has had an extremely positive impact on the Giallorossi since his arrival from Lille before the start of the current season and he wants his successful run to continue with the capital city club in the next term, though he insists that there’s still some work to do and understands that it will take time to win a title in Europe.
Garcia spoke to Sportmediaset.it about Roma’s upcoming run in the Champions League next campaign and admits that he still has faith in the Scudetto this season despite being eight points behind Juventus.
“I want to stay at Roma, but I want a competitive team that’s able to play in the Champions League while still fighting for the Scudetto,” said the coach.
“My will is clear, I think I’ve already proven this to the club. The rumours about Paris St Germain or other clubs don’t interest me.
“I won’t place any special conditions on details, but next season we’ll be playing in the Champions League and we’ll have to be ready.
“We’ll be facing a season that’s even more difficult than this one. Maybe we’ll earn less points, or maybe we’ll win the Scudetto, but above all, I repeat, we must be able to better address the Champions League.
“We won’t be playing to win it because as of right now that’s not possible. We aren’t programmed for this, but I want to at least play as a protagonist and get the team to the second stage.
“Regarding the market, we must still speak with the club. This is a particularly short week that will already see us facing AC Milan on Friday.
“For this reason, we’re only focused on the championship right now. However, it’s clearly an advantage to us knowing that we’re already qualified for the Champions League because now we can work harder and better.
“I still believe in the Scudetto this season, of course. Everything is still possible and open.
“It’s clear that we must win all of our remaining matches, however, starting from Friday. If we win, then we can wait until Monday to see what happens between Sassuolo and Juventus, hoping that Sassuolo do what they have to do because they’re playing for salvation.
“In recent days we have seen Juve play against teams that have been fighting for salvation that have failed to do much on the field, but Sassuolo is a great team. It’s a positive moment for them, so we’ll see.
“Of course, it’s true that if Juve beat Sassuolo then they would have almost certainly won the title, but if they don’t win then everything is still open.”
