ROMA LACKED MENTAL STRENGTH - FONSECA

AS Roma manager Pablo Fonseca disclosed that his team lacked mental strength to cope with adversaries as they crumbled to a 6-2 defeat against Premier League giants Manchester United when the two teams met in the first of two Europa League meetings in one week.

Fonseca spoke to Sky Sports Italia after the heavy defeat suffered by his Italian football team. According to him, his Italian football team had the right tactical approach for the game played at Old Trafford on Thursday night and that the required mental strength was lacking and that ultimately led to the collapsed in the second half.

Italian football has not been at the races in European competitions this season and AS Roma were the last hope until the capital club conceded five goals in the second half of the first leg meeting with the Red Devils in the Europa League semi-finals.

Roma had led 2-1 at the end of the first half after showing immense fighting spirit to comeback from conceding an early goal to Bruno Fernandes. Lorenzo Pellegrini scored the equaliser for the Italians from the penalty spot after Frenchman Paul Pogba was penalised for handball in the box before Bosnian striker EdinDzeko scored a second Roma goal to turn the game on its head in the first half.

The Roma players were unable to show the aforementioned fighting spirit in the second half as they crumbled to a 6-2 loss by conceding goals to EdinsonCavani (2), Fernandes, Pogba and young English international Mason Greenwood.

The heavy defeat has left Roma with the need to score four goals without reply in the second leg at the StadioOlimpiconext week Thursday if they want to play in the Europa League final in Gdansk, Poland next month.