“Quite a bit has changed since the games last year against Roma – both with us and them,” Alonso stated at Wednesday’s press conference from the Stadio Olimpico. “There are new people at both teams. The styles of play have also changed somewhat.”
The change of approach at the Giallorossi is also down to their change of coach since club legend Daniele De Rossi took over from Jose Mourinho in January. “His style of play is clear to see. Their style has changed with the change of coach.”
“Desire and hunger absolutely there”
The Werkself are now unbeaten in their last 46 competitive fixtures. The Bundesliga title is in the bag, but they’ve now got their sights on the next goal. “The desire and hunger to reach the final are absolutely there. It’s a second chance for us after last year, even though we know it’ll be difficult. Roma have shown their quality often enough in the Europa League this season. There’s also the spectacular atmosphere in the stadium here.” Some 2,400 fans have made the trip from Leverkusen to Rome to support their team.
The Werkself have arrived with a fully fit squad. Jonathan Tah went off with a knock against VfB Stuttgart but is available, as are forwards Adam Hlozek and Borja Iglesias after their respective injuries. While Alonso refused to state whether they would feature, the Spaniard did confirm that Matej Kovar will continue in goal in the competition.
Schick: “happy to be fit and healthy again”
Schick missed last season’s semi-final tie against his former club due to injury. “It makes me even happier to be back fit and healthy now. It’ll be nice to see some of my old teammates again,” the Czech striker said. One of those is new coach De Rossi. “He was a great player, a real leader on the pitch. And from what I’ve seen from a distance, he’s also doing a super job as a coach here at Roma. I think he’s got a very promising future ahead of him in this area.”
