De Rossi: “We’ll get through this together. The second leg is still to come”

What was missing tonight?

“We were up against a strong side who make it hard to get back into the game if you fall behind due to the way they manage possession and because we were a bit agitated after their opener. I think we put in a decent performance. I liked the fact that we were so aggressive in the first half and managed to win the ball back quickly, forcing them to play long balls, which was part of what we’d prepared.

“We’ve broken the deadlock straight away in so many games in Europe and they went our way, but it was kind of the other way round tonight.”

Mistakes are part of the job, but was Rick Karsdorp’s error tonight the turning point?

“Football is made up of episodes. It would be unfair to point the finger at a mistake today when in other games, maybe we’ve emerged victorious due to mistakes or moments of imprecision by others. That’s part and parcel of the game. We’ll get through this together. We still have the away leg to come.

“Sometimes episodes can make games go in one direction or another. Even today, there were still 60 minutes to play and we could’ve done more. We had the chances to do that. In the last second, we had an incredible opportunity to go to Leverkusen with a different deficit. It’s their night tonight and it’s their year. They’re a team with real quality. The fact that they’ve got a lead makes them even more dangerous because they’re incredibly fast on the counter.”

The chance that fell to Tammy Abraham at the end could’ve given you more breathing room in the second leg.

“Every goal in two-legged ties can be of incredible importance. We could’ve taken an early lead tonight when we hit the bar. Maybe we can break the deadlock in the second leg and change the course of the tie in our favour.

“I have so much belief. Of course, it’ll be a tough game against a strong side. We know all too well that it won’t be easy, but we won’t give up.”

What are the mistakes to avoid in the second leg and do you plan to make changes?

“We’ll change something and that’s also because we have so many games in little time. There are decisions to be made. You can press them with less intensity, but they’ll still pass the ball around you. When you press with intensity, you get exposed to dangerous players with more space in behind the defence. They have such fast players with real quality.

“Against the top sides, you need to make a choice and I think our choice in the first half was paying off. We conceded from a situation in which we were in control of the ball. When we fall behind, we’re capable of doing many things better. We conceded the second goal against Bologna and in that case, we also let the emotions get the better of us. We need to be more clear-headed. In terms of our performance, attitude and commitment, the lads did what they needed to do.

“We’ll play our game in Leverkusen – I’m sure of that, with the hope that the key moments go our way.”

Bayer Leverkusen’s fluid attacking play seemed to cause Chris Smalling problems, as did their defensive flexibility. Given the players they had available, how much did that surprise you? How can you overcome that?

“We’d prepared for this sort of game. In most games that we’d seen, they played a typical number nine such as [Patrik] Schick or [Victor] Boniface. Then when they played the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, they were against teams that they probably feared and felt were strong in attack, so they played in this way.

“We knew it would be even tighter if they played in that formation. You can dismantle these teams by playing very clean football, by moving the ball about well and with great ability in one-on-one situations in terms of footwork, speed and desire to attack the spaces. When they shut up shop and you lose the ball, they can break and they know how to build the play and also play on the counter. They’re a tough team to play against, as they’ve shown all year. We’ll analyse the game properly in due course, but I do think that we did well in the first half.”

They’re so quick when they try to get in behind the defence. How can you defend against that and compete against their physical strength?

“You can’t contain their strength very much. They have a different level of pace compared with us. They’ve built a squad based on physical attributes and speed. Maybe we’re more technical and so we need to ensure we choose the right moment when they’re in possession.

“We mustn’t leave them space to switch players around so much. The more intensity you attack them with, the less the players switch around. Of course, the more intensity you attack them with, the more space they get in behind your defence, so we’ll need to be pretty much perfect in that regard.”