Cristante: If we give 100% for 90 minutes we can get to the final

Read everything Bryan Cristante had to say ahead of Thursday's Europa Conference League semi-final meeting with Leicester City.

With the tie level at 1-1 after the first leg, it will be all to play for at a sold-out Stadio Olimpico...

Roma have played a lot of games this season – will tiredness be a factor tomorrow?

“Clearly whenever the tiredness hits you games can become more difficult. But I think that, when the game is a semi-final – at home – and it is as important a game as this one, then you can overcome even tiredness to stay at 100% for the full 90 minutes and beyond. The tiredness you can worry about the day after.”

You are in the changing room at the moment, do you think you all understand the importance of this game? Do you feel a responsibility to win? How are you all feeling?

“We are fired up for it. We are fired up, that’s all. We know that we are the last Italian side left in European competition this season, and we know that it is home semi-final for us. We want to continue on, we want to win this competition. There’s not much more to say, we just need to go out there and give it our all – because that’s the only way we can win this game. We need to be at 100% for the full 90 minutes.”

It’s now a year since the announcement of the appointment of Jose Mourinho – where you amazed at the time? What has he brought to Roma since?

“Amazed, yes. As with everyone else, we didn’t know anything about it [beforehand]. It was announced out of the blue. Clearly I was pleased, just like the rest of group, because it is an honour to have someone like Mourinho as a coach.

“He’s brought with him the right mentality: he’s won everywhere he’s been, at every club and he comes with this strong winning mentality. Tomorrow we need to show that his qualities have passed on to us.”

Mourinho has often had plenty of praise for you. What do you think your best position is – and do you want to stay at Roma?

“I am just thinking about tomorrow’s game – we have a semi-final to play at home, in front of our fans, and then we have a tough finish to the league season too. We could have a European final to play as well. So, until the end of the season, my head is on that. There will be time for everything else.”

What will it mean to play in front of 70,000 fans?

“Playing for Roma in front of a full Olimpico, with the passion that the Roma fans bring, will definitely give us an extra boost. We know that. We want to do well for the fans as well, because they deserve it. A full stadium can only motivate us and give us an extra boost – and in games like this one that can make all the difference.”

You seemed to suffer a dip in form in the middle of the season, perhaps due to injuries. Was that the reason?

“I think it has been a really long season; we’ve played 50 games or so already. Clearly it’s always going to be difficult for all of us to maintain top form throughout that. So it can happen that occasionally a few other factors can affect the level of performances.”

How much has the period working under Paulo Fonseca helped you as a player? Before playing in defence under him you had not played that role much in your career, but now it seems to influence much of how you have played this season…

“Clearly playing in different positions across the pitch, when all is said and done, gives you a better understanding of the whole field of play. So then, when you find yourself asked to play different roles, you already know some of the answers without having to think too much.”

This is Roma’s third European semi-final in five seasons. How different, though, will this one be to last season?

“Clearly compared to last season we come into this game with a different perspective: the tie is still wide open, we are coming into the home leg with the scoreline currently level.

“We know that it is down to us, what we need to do in order to win – but even one goal could be enough to win. We don’t need to score four or five to have a chance.

“So we are focused, we are fired up and we want to go to the final. We will have 70,000 fans to cheer us on. We want to do it.”