Pellegrini: ‘If this is the start, dream of what Roma could become’

Lorenzo Pellegrini admits even he did not expect Daniele De Rossi to have such a huge effect, but he’s fired up to face Brighton. ‘If this is the start, we can only dream of what Roma could become.’

There seems to be no stopping the Giallorossi at the moment, as they notched up their sixth win in seven Serie A games since Daniele De Rossi took over from Jose Mourinho.

It was a dominant 4-1 display at the U-Power Stadium, beating Monza 4-1 with goals from Pellegrini, Romelu Lukaku, a divine Paulo Dybala free kick and Leandro Paredes penalty.

Andrea Carboni prevented the clean sheet with a late screamer into the top corner past Mile Svilar.

“It was a difficult match with many hidden dangers, we respect Monza and the way they play, but we did what the coach asked. I’d say our progress is continuing positively,” Pellegrini told DAZN.

“We work every day also to create unity, as that is fundamental. When you run out of energy, you find that little extra to sacrifice yourself for your teammate because you like him and want to help out.

“We are happy, we won a great game and want to continue like this.”

Pellegrini scored five goals and provided three assists under De Rossi, who had been his teammate at Roma before he was a coach.

“I always expected him to become a great coach. It’s one thing to think it and another to put it into practice, and he is surprising me with the way he focuses on every detail in training. We work hard, we work smart and the results are coming.

“However, we also know that we’ve achieved nothing yet. If this is the start, then we can only dream of what Roma could become, especially in terms of mentality.”

Roma could not be feeling more confident going into Thursday’s first leg of the Europa League Round of 16 tie against Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Seagulls were beaten 3-0 by Fulham this afternoon in the Premier League.

“It was also important to win and give us the right confidence going in. We have done some really good things in Europe over the last few years, Brighton are a good team who like to play, but I can guarantee Roma will leave it all on the field.”