Roma in Nice, Gasperini: "Are we favorites in the Europa League? We need to improve."

"Does the ranking say we're favorites for the Europa League? That can't be confirmed at the moment; we still have to improve." On the eve of their European debut against Roma , Gian Piero Gasperini takes the pressure off the Giallorossi, who are facing a tricky away trip to Nice . "The club has a strong recent tradition in cup competition, but that's not a burden for the players; on the contrary, it's a motivation to try and do better," he emphasizes. "In Europe, it's never easy for anyone to achieve their goals. Furthermore, the schedule isn't the same for everyone. Ours is among the most difficult, given that at home we face two good teams in Stuttgart and Lille, while away we face tough teams, especially in challenging environments. We have to try to get points everywhere, taking it game by game."

Gasperini: "Pellegrini? He could start again."

Roma arrives in Nice riding the heat of the derby and with Pellegrini back in form. Gasperini hasn't ruled out reintroducing him as a starter, despite his recent return from a long layoff: "I think he's capable of playing. He's coming off a long spell of inactivity, and the game the other day could be more significant, but in today's football, playing so close together isn't a problem. If you do that for so many weeks, it can be a problem in terms of injuries."

"I want to broaden the roster a bit."

The fact is that Gasp will still make some changes in France: "I want to expand the squad a bit and have more opportunities for rotation, and this leads me to test out some very important matches," the coach said. "Over the past few weeks, we've created a solid core of players who are performing well, but sooner or later we'll need to build confidence in other players to be able to face other matches with confidence." Dybala and Bailey are out, but they should return after the break. Possible options include Dovbyk ("It's a possibility, but I still have to decide") in place of Ferguson , Tsimikas in place of Angelino , and El Aynaoui , who will likely give Koné a break.

"We need a different mentality when we take the lead."

Whoever plays, the Giallorossi coach wants to gradually see a different mentality: "Apart from against Torino, the team has always scored. However, they've often struggled after taking the lead: they limit themselves, perhaps unconsciously, to defending the 1-0 without managing to find the safety net. And so they end up conceding. There's excessive caution, and this is something that needs to change," he concludes.