The coach of Roma wants his team to repeat the same performance against Barcelona

The coach of Roma, Eusebio Di Francesco, said today that he would like his team to repeat the performance they offered against Barcelona, in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals against Liverpool tomorrow, in which they are looking to overturn a 2-5 deficit.

In the press conference prior to the match at the Olympic Stadium, Di Francesco recalled the historic comeback sealed by Roma against Barcelona in the quarterfinals, when they won 3-0 at home after losing 1-4 in the first leg at Camp Nou.

"I would do as with a computer, a copy and paste of the performance against Barcelona," Di Francesco said, explaining that he wants his team to take the field tomorrow at the Olympic Stadium with the same determination shown against the Spanish club both physically and mentally.

"To compete with Liverpool, we have to increase the quality of our performance. We have to have the ability to score as soon as possible to excite the crowd," the Italian coach continued.

Despite remembering the performance against Barcelona, Di Francesco believes that Liverpool is a completely different team from the Catalans and that requires a tactical change for Roma.

"We are facing a team that is totally different from a tactical point of view, mentality-wise. They make fewer passes and play more vertically. This changes a lot tactically. However, in terms of motivations, nothing changes. We want to give our all on the field and do something great," he said.

Di Francesco will have to manage the absence of Argentine Diego Perotti and Dutchman Kevin Strootman and explained that he will decide who to align after Tuesday's training session.

"I will decide the starting eleven today, although there are players who will definitely be missing and I have fewer pieces available, unfortunately," the coach acknowledged, who should change the formation from 3-4-2-1 in the first leg to 4-3-3, with Stephan El Shaarawy, Bosnian Edin Dzeko, and Turkish Cengiz Under in the attack.

The coach of the Italian capital's team stressed the importance of motivations and emphasized that, although reaching the semifinals is a great result for the team, he is not satisfied and wants to aim for the final in Kiev, Ukraine.

"I am not satisfied, we have to give our best to reach Kiev. Our will has to be to reach the final. From today onwards, I will try to motivate these guys to be convinced that they can do something great," he pointed out.

Roma and Liverpool already faced each other at the Olympic Stadium in the 1984 European Cup final, when the English team triumphed on penalties, but Di Francesco explained that his team does not see tomorrow's match as a revenge for that night.

"Too much time has passed, that is felt more in the heart of the fans. But now it's a different football, a different era. The motivations are different. It's a semifinal, it's an important match in itself," he said.

In his appearance, Di Francesco also expressed his support for Irish Liverpool fan Sean Cox, who is in critical condition after being assaulted by two Roma fans before the match at Anfield.

He also expressed the desire that tomorrow's match at the Olympic Stadium is "a joy, beyond the result" for both sets of fans and that the two teams face each other in a safe environment.