The Giallorossi head-coach is confident that his team can climb the table and seal a third-place finish despite the Derby della Capitale defeat to Lazio.
Luis Enrique has not given up on UEFA Champions league qualification despite suffering another defeat in the league.
Roma suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of local rivals, Lazio, in Derby della Capitale on Sunday, March 4. The Biancazzurri completed their first double over La Maggica in 15 years. As a result of the defeat, the Giallorossi now
sit 10 points behind third-placed Lazio.
Luis Enrique has expressed his disappointment with the result and is ruing Maarten Stekelenburg’s red-card in the early minutes of the match. The Dutchman was shown a straight red-card for a foul on Miroslav Klose inside the box.
Hernanes opened the scoring from the resulting penalty kick in the 10th minute.
The Giallorossi tactician insisted that it was difficult to play with numerical inferiority, and that consecutive defeats to Lazio are unfortunate.
While talking to press, the former Barcelona B coach said:
“I would like to have played the derby with 11 men for a change. I don't know what I've done to deserve this.”
The former Real Madrid star revealed that his team worked extremely hard before the match, but the red-card changed their fortunes. He also reserved praise for Lazio, and believes that the Biancazzurri are playing great football
of late.
"That episode changed the match. I am very disappointed because I thought today we would win this game provided we played at our best, even though Lazio is a strong team. That thought faded away early on.”
Enrique believes that it is unfair to blame him or his players for the defeat in a crucial match, and insists that the team will keep fighting until the end of the season.
"I cannot criticise my players because they did everything possible. There are 12 games remaining and we will continue to fight until the end.”
The Giallorossi will face Palermo in their next game on Saturday, March 10.
Tags: