Udinese travel to the capital on Sunday where they will face off against Jose Mourinho’s Roma side and coach Andrea Sottil says that the importance of the fixture speaks for itself. “In front of a full crowd at the Olimpico, with three crucial points up for grabs, we need no extra motivation going into this game. I’m in no doubt that my boys will be up for it, playing with personality and courage.”
Sottil says his players have prepared well for the fixture. “We’ve worked hard as usual this week and gone into the finest details.”
He also had words of praise for two midfielders who he thinks could make an impact in this game. “For me, Roberto Pereyra is crucial because of his tactical experience, quality and creativity. As our captain, he’s a great leader and is always ready to give out advice. He’s like a coach on the pitch. Lazar Samardzic is developing a lot. He stills needs to improve in head-to-heads, tackling and consistency, but he’s doing really well. He’ll really help us with his creative play. Whether he starts or comes on, he’s an important player for us.”
Finally, the Udinese coach had a few thoughts on his team’s opponents on Sunday. “I’m expecting Roma to be really pumped up for this. Jose Mourinho is an expert in motivating his players and I admire him a lot. He’s able to bring out the best in his players. Roma are a solid, practical team with some great players. They concede very few goals and play well on the counter. We’re expecting a tough game, we know. We must be really focused. As I always say, we must always go out there to play our own game.”