Roma Coach Eusebio Di Francesco lamented Barcelona ‘receiving help’ from the officials during his side’s 4-1 defeat at the Camp Nou.
The Giallorossi were comprehensively beaten by the Catalan giants in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final, but scored two own goals and their Coach was aggrieved by the officiating.
“Barcelona are already such a strong side, they don’t need help. This evening they received help from us and from the referee,” Di Francesco told Mediaset Premium.
“We put in a fine performance this evening, but there were costly errors and we cannot pin the responsibility on others. I can’t complain in terms of character and attitude, because we found ourselves 3-0 down and didn’t realise how it had happened.
“I asked the team for balance, because playing over 180 minutes we needed to keep the tie on a relatively even keel. Although we have experience, we need to improve in that sense.
“The result is far too harsh considering the performance and the strength of the opposition. Daniele De Rossi’s own goal was unlucky, while we gave them an assist when Ivan Rakitic hit the post too.
“We were naïve and too slow on occasion. We honoured the occasion but should’ve been better at reading certain situations. You need to score goals when given the chance, like Diego Perotti and also others. We must be more clinical, because Barcelona are ruthless.
“The only thing we can say is that we made Barcelona play badly. We didn’t want to just allow them continual possession. We conceded goals in unusual situations and were at times too hasty. If you create scoring opportunities at Camp Nou, you have to take them.”
