Roma coach De Rossi on Fiorentina draw: Fundamental we didn't lose

Roma coach Daniele de Rossi was relieved after their 2-2 draw with Fiorentina.

Mile Svilar saved a penalty for Roma before Diego Llorente found an equaliser in injury-time.

De Rossi said: We have to analyse when things aren't working and the fact is after each of the Europa League games, we had a bad first half in the next Serie A match. And every time I moved to a three-man defence and saw improvements. Well, I tried it from the start this time and evidently that's not the issue.

Whenever I saw the team running on empty, I tried to move them back to a system they used for many years and felt comfortable with. I remember they were very difficult to score against when playing with five at the back.

However, maybe they are rejecting that system now, like a body with a new organ!" he laughed.

I felt like we could win it when we equalised and conceding the second goal was against the run of play, that could knock the wind out of our sails, but the penalty save kept us alive."

He added: Not losing a match like this is fundamental, not just for the point, but the enthusiasm it generates. I generally don't like to celebrate draws, but we held out against a very strong team in a stadium where many sides have lost.

We stayed in there to the end and during a season there can be moments like this where we have to take what we can. The enthusiasm we felt standing in front of our fans for a few minutes after the final whistle was something we needed."