Gasperini demands deeper Roma squad after Real Madrid collapse

Gasperini calls for a deeper squad

Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini insists that the three goals conceded in seven minutes against Real Madrid were an 'anomaly', but he has made clear that he needs a 'deeper squad' to cope with three competitions. Roma return to Serie A on Saturday, hosting Daniele De Rossi's Genoa at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma will be without five regular starters, including Paulo Dybala and Manu Koné, who were injured against Real Madrid on Wednesday. Donyell Malen will serve a one-game ban, and Argentine striker will take his place in the side.

Collapse against Real Madrid

Roma wasted a two-goal lead against Real Madrid, going from a 3-1 lead to a 4-3 defeat and conceding three times in the final seven minutes. Gasperini said the set-piece situations were the problem.

"During the corner-kick situations, there was fear and a lack of reaction, which hadn't happened before. As for the substitutes, they all came on and did well."

"Unfortunately, we lost Koné early on, and perhaps we could have had one more substitution available. We conceded from those corner situations; it was unusual, but we need to examine it," he added.

Gasperini also acknowledged the psychological impact of the score moving to 3-2. "The psychological blow came when the score became 3–2. We need to work on that and put it right," he said.

Injury news and squad rotation

Gasperini said Bryan Cristante could be back for the Napoli game or the one after. Pellegrini may drop deeper given the emergency, and Castro is expected to get a chance to shine against Genoa.

"Tomorrow we need strength, belief and energy. We are returning to the league as one of the leading teams," Gasperini said.

On midfielder Stephan El Shaarawy's teammate Leon de Roon, Gasperini praised his reliability: "De Roon is no longer very young, but he is a healthy athlete and has never had these types of problems [playing many consecutive games]."

Fixture pressure

Roma face a demanding run, with Genoa's visit being their third match in seven days and a fourth match in ten days coming on Tuesday. "Football has changed: either we adapt, or we suffer the consequences," Gasperini said.

Asked whether new signings were needed, Gasperini was guarded: "Yes, but we cannot do anything about that today. If I say it in August, people will say I am complaining. Nowadays, teams competing in Europe cannot have squads as big as they did a few years ago."

He added: "We will never be down to only ten players; we will bring players up from the academy. Given the current schedule, teams competing in Europe have to play so many matches that a deeper squad is essential."