Roma coach Luciano Spalletti believes the odds are slightly in his club’s favour ahead of their Europa League clash against Lyon, but urged his players to prove themselves.
The Giallorossi go into the second leg of the Last 16 tie 4-2 down after an away defeat to their French opponents, but despite the deficit Spalletti is confident that his team can get to the next round, provided they play to their full abilities.
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“We have a 60 percent chance of going through,” the former Zenit St. Petersburg coach claimed in the pre-match press conference. “It will be difficult, but I put this pressure on the team because I am convinced that on Thursday night the players will become stars.”
Roma and Lyon are amongst the highest goalscorers in Europe, with 90 and 88 goals in all competitions respectively, but Spalletti insisted that the match would not only be won in attack.
“Both attack and defence will decide this match. We have great quality in attack, but it will be a very delicate game and we must pay attention to their wide players. It is important that we score early.”
Roma will be hoping to reach the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 1999.
