Gasperini previews Rangers away clash: “I find it hard to understand the idea of resting players.” | OneFootball

Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini addressed the media on the eve of the Europa League clash against Rangers.

“Dovbyk? He’s available but there’s never a single decisive moment. Every moment is important. Right now it’s important for tomorrow in the Europa League.”

“As always at grounds like this, it’s going to be a very difficult game. You’re up against a cauldron of a stadium and a very energetic team. Rangers have had two excellent performances since changing coach. We expect it to be very challenging from an athletic point of view. We’ll need to be in great shape if we want to perform well.”

“We have to achieve as much as we can. Obviously we’ll need to be very careful in our two home games. We need to win at least three of the next five to qualify but they’re all tricky matches because every team in Europe is well prepared. We’ve seen that Italian teams find it difficult playing at a higher tempo than we’re used to in Serie A.”

“They’re different matches. In that final we took the lead and with our second chance we went 2-0 up. You can’t compare matches. It’s different when you’re in the lead, but yes, clearly percentage-wise we’re scoring less than we’re creating. That said, the fact that we’re creating dangerous situations is already a positive. It would be worrying if we weren’t.”

When asked if Cristante will rest, Gasperini declared, “What does ‘rest’ mean? For what reason? We’ll rest tonight. Tomorrow when we play, we won’t rest. I find it hard to understand this idea of resting…”

If you’re talking about rotating – or playing some other players – then that’s different. But resting… You rest at home. As for who will play, we’ll see. [Paulo] Dybala definitely won’t play. [Leon] Bailey definitely won’t play. We have 17 or 18 outfield players. We’ve brought [Alessandro] Romano with us too. We have lots…”

“Soule has had some excellent performances but it’s not easy for forwards to be consistent. He’s been playing all the time. Sometimes he’s been tired and he’s been substituted. In any case, he’s an added value for this team. I don’t believe in this thing about Dybala. He’s very important for us technically: he doesn’t only help himself; he helps those around him to play better too.”