Garcia proud of resilient Roma

Rudi Garcia heaped praise on his Roma players after they shrugged off criticisms throughout the campaign to finish second in Serie A.

A disappointing second half of the season has seen Roma lose touch with champions Juventus, and they had to hold off a late charge from Lazio to secure a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League group stage.

Garcia’s men came in for criticism at times as they stumbled, but the Frenchman was delighted with the reaction he received to guarantee second position in the table.

“The course of a season never runs smooth and we did have to negotiate a few rough moments,” he said ahead of Sunday’s final match with Palermo. 

“We have a fantastic group of players here. We all stuck together and that’s what enabled us to finish second

“Roma is one of the most exciting projects in European and world football but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. 

“Our overall assessment is that we came top of ‘our’ league. Juve are in a league of their own at the moment.”

Garcia has now set his sights on a better performance in the Champions League, after being knocked out in the group stages this term by Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

He added: “We were placed in a group of death in the Champions League but it was all good experience for us. 

“Hopefully we’ll be in the third pot in next season’s draw. We might have an easier group then.”