Gian Piero Gasperini said Roma would learn more from their Champions League collapse at Manchester United than from a similar defeat against Real Madrid. Roma led 2-0 after 18 minutes at Old Trafford before Manchester United came back to win.
How the match turned
Roma were 2-0 up after 18 minutes at Old Trafford through goals from Matias Soulé and a Donyell Malen penalty. Manchester United came back after Bruno Fernandes converted a retaken penalty, and Matheus Cunha scored a late double.
Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia: "It was a different game to Real Madrid, where it all happened in the last seven or eight minutes from corner kicks, and there were no real signs of the comeback. This time, it was above all after the penalty that Manchester United had this sudden surge of enthusiasm, and we were unable to keep up with it."
What Gasperini said Roma learned
Gasperini said: "Honestly, we learned more from this match than the one with Real Madrid. That felt unpredictable, whereas at times today when Old Trafford was pushing on the team, we need to be able to handle these situations better in future."
He also said: "The momentum of the match changed with the penalty and the incident for 2-2."
Gasperini said: "I don’t think it’s a coincidence, but I also think they were different matches. This evening, we didn’t have the strength to press their strikers the way we did in the first half, plus the penalty and the error for the equaliser really turned the tide."
Half-time changes and pressure
Gasperini said: "They made modifications at half-time and had nothing left to lose, so they pressed high, so perhaps we should’ve made more of long balls in that situation. The problem was we were no longer able to stick to their reference points, so they had the better on pressing, not letting us play, but also on their attacks. That created some problems for us, we probably should’ve tried to interrupt their rhythm a bit more with some extra challenges and slow the tempo down."
He said: "There is always going to be 15-20 minutes against Manchester United when you’re under pressure, and if you can emerge unscathed from it, you’ll be fine."
Roma team news
Football Italia said both Mile Svilar and Pierluigi Gollini were ruled out by injury, so Devis Vasquez made his club debut as third-choice goalkeeper. Football Italia also said Paulo Dybala, Manu Koné and Lorenzo Pellegrini were out, while Devyne Rensch limped off with a muscular issue in the first half.
Gasperini said: "Molina is an international, but Rensch started very well and had this injury, so I chose Lulli and that used up a slot. Wesley played well defensively, this was not the reason we struggled."
