Roma coach Rudi Garcia is hoping his Giallorossi side have learned their lessons from the draw with Hellas Verona when they play Juventus on Sunday.
Last season’s top two both choked on the opening weekend, with the Lupi being held in Verona while Juve were at odds during their clash with Udinese, succumbing to a 1-0 defeat in front of a stunned Juventus Stadium.
“I want to see a higher tempo [than the Verona game], starting the game by playing to win,” said Garcia to reporters.
“It was not all bad before [Verona] scored but we must have more pace.
“Juventus are always a team of high quality although no one is at 100% so early in the season, but we have worked hard and must exploit our home advantage.”
New Roma signings Edin Dzeko, Iago Falque, Mohamed Salah, and Wojciech Szczesny all made their debut last Saturday and Garcia believes the new-look squad is gelling well.
“We have made the most of the short time to work with the new players,” the French coach continued, “it is normal that players like Salah and Dzeko will need time to fit into our plans and we will get there soon.
“At the moment [Vasilis] Torosidis is recovering from an injury very well and is 90% ready, if fit he will play instead of [new signing Lucas] Digne who needs time to settle in.”
Roma take on The Old Lady in Serie A at 1800 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
