Furious Gian Piero Gasperini fires back at Jose Mourinho after Real Madrid's late Champions League smash-and-grab against Roma

Gasperini was left reeling after Roma surrendered a commanding position against Madrid, but he took particular issue with the post-match assessment offered by Mourinho. Following a dramatic late turnaround where the Spanish giants secured victory through a flurry of set-pieces, the Portuguese tactician suggested that the Italian side had mentally and physically folded under the pressure. "On the 3-1 they thought the game was dead, but in reality the Roma players were dead," Mourinho told Amazon Prime.

The remark did not sit well with Gasperini, who watched his side dominate large spells of the contest before conceding three goals from corner kicks in a nightmare ending for the home supporters. Responding to the "dead" comment, Gasperini offered a starkly different perspective on the flow of the game. "I don't think so. It seems to me that if anyone couldn't take it anymore, it was them. We could have scored a few more goals. They were outclassed in every department. They scored the goals and they rightly count, they were good at using their physicality. For the rest, they certainly weren't up to the task," the Roma coach replied.

The defeat was especially bitter for Gasperini because of the specific way his team conceded. After controlling the tempo for 80 minutes, Roma appeared to freeze during defensive transitions, allowing Real Madrid to exploit their height advantage repeatedly. The Giallorossi manager expressed disbelief at how his defensive unit, which had looked solid for most of the night, suddenly became so porous.

"We got stuck at the finish line, paralyzed, yet even in the first half they had taken corners and we hadn't shown this fragility," Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia. "They scored goals far too easily; in a match like this, these episodes shouldn't have happened. It's hard to get back up after a defeat like this. We must start again from the match up until the goals were conceded, we must react, otherwise everything good we've done is cancelled out."

The defeat was compounded by fitness issues for key players Manu Kone and Paulo Dybala, both of whom were forced off during the contest. Gasperini confirmed the nature of the setbacks, stating: "For Kone, it’s a muscular problem, while Dybala felt his calf tighten up a bit. Kone's issue seems a little more serious. In these high-intensity games, minor injuries are inevitable, but we will react strongly to this setback."

Reflecting on the mental state of his squad during the final ten minutes, Gasperini suggested a lack of composure was to blame. "Perhaps there was a lack of personality and we didn't grasp that the moment was crucial. This is part of football, even if it’s unusual. We have to find the strength to start again from those 80 good minutes and respond," he explained.

The Roma coach admitted that his team struggled to cope when Real Madrid began to throw physical power into the box. He acknowledged this as a recurring weakness for his side: "Some teams just throw men forward. We are vulnerable in those situations. It happens against these sides with significant physicality, and it is a situation where we must improve."

Despite the bitter ending, Gasperini insisted that the performance showed Roma can compete with the elite. "It wasn't a physical drop because even at 3-1, we kept playing and could have finished some moves better. The goals came from those set-plays, which is their credit. We leave disappointed, but we were better than Real. They only had that one weapon. We go from euphoria to disappointment, and it must be digested quickly."