Paulo Fonseca answered questions from the media on Saturday afternoon, ahead of Sunday’s Serie A meeting with Bologna.


The game at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara gets underway at 15:00 CET.

Here’s everything the boss had to say ahead of the game…

What are your memories of Paolo Rossi?

“First of all, I have to say how sad I was to hear the news. He was a player that I really looked up to as a youngster. I remember his goals at the World Cup in Spain [in 1982]. It’s a sad moment for football, especially for Italian football. I am thinking about his family and friends at this sad time.”

Moving on to Sunday’s game, are Lorenzo Pellegrini and Jordan Veretout ready to start?

“Yes, Lorenzo and Jordan are back. They trained yesterday and today with the rest of the squad. They trained well and they will both start tomorrow.”

Chris Smalling has missed more than a month in Serie A: is he back to full fitness after his midweek runout?


“Yes, Chris has been out for a while. He needs to get back in the best shape possible, so it was good for him to play 45 minutes in Sofia – both to build his fitness and to get some confidence back too. But he still needs to work on his physical condition to be ready to play 90 minutes again.”

Is Sunday’s game key now, to ensure you don’t lose any ground on those sides in front of you?

“Every game is important and we want to always go out there aiming to win. I don’t want to win tomorrow just because we didn’t win against Sassuolo… tomorrow will be a tough game against a good side – but our aim is the same: to win it.”


Given Pedro is suspended, tomorrow could we see Edin Dzeko and Borja Mayoral play together for the first time?

“We will see tomorrow.”

On Thursday CSKA Sofia were mostly dangerous as a result of Roma mistakes: how much is that a concern for you heading into this game?

“No, they are two completely different games. In Sofia we changed a lot of players. The target was to finish top of the group and we had done that. I don’t like to lose, and I’m never satisfied when we win either, but they are two separate matches and one won’t have an impact on the other.”