Roma midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo has said that being benched in recent games made him reflect on his place in the team under coach Jose Mourinho.
The 22-year-old did start in the Giallorossi’s 4-0 victory against Ukrainian club Zorya Luhansk in the Conference League on Thursday evening, and he made his contribution by scoring a goal in the first half and then also supplying an assist for Tammy Abraham after the break.
“It made me think, it’s what the coach chose and I had to accept that,” Zaniolo told Sky Sport Italia, asked about how he felt being dropped from the XI.
“Today I went out and did my duty. I like being under pressure and responding on the pitch.
“[Mourinho] taught me not to be satisfied with a good performance, we must always improve and work on ourselves. We always play to win, today was a final and we took it home.”
The victory against Zorya allowed Roma to seal their passage into the knockout rounds of the Conference League with one match to spare.
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