Spalletti: Roma must change mentality after Champions League elimination
Roma boss Luciano Spalletti knows what it takes for the club to win trophies, and he admits his team's mentality has to change if it wants to enjoy similar success in the future.
The Giallorossi were eliminated for the Champions League on Tuesday night after losing 4-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid, but not before wasting golden opportunities to level the tie.
It was a discouraging end to a night that could've yielded a memorable result at the Bernabeu. Had Mohamed Salah and Edin Dzeko converted their chances from close range in the first half, the story could've read differently.
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"In the past I've achieved some results with Roma that have gone down in history. We need to change the way we think. We need to change our mentality after this game. We need to realise the kind of chance we threw away tonight," Spalletti told reporters.
Winning seven games in a row to surge back up to third place in Serie A, Roma has rediscovered its form. Spalletti - who won the Coppa Italia twice during his first stint as Roma's manager between 2005 and 2009 - looked like a man who had found all the answers.
Despite the fact Roma only earned a single victory in the group stage of the Champions League under former gaffer Rudi Garcia, there was a feeling that the capital club could take advantage of a Madrid side in flux in the knockout round.
Roma went for goals in the opening fixture at the Stadio Olimpico, even after Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first goal of the matchup off a nasty deflection, and it continued to commit numbers forward at the Bernabeu.
But for all of his team's progress and attacking impetus - Spalletti started forwards Dzeko, Salah, Stephan El Shaarawy, and Diego Perotti in a bid to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg of the last-16 tie - it was evident that the players weren't clinical enough.
"We can't rest easy and be happy with losing two matches 2-0. It's not OK. We need to improve," Spalletti said.
Roma travels to Udinese on Sunday as the battle resumes for a Champions League spot next season.