RUDI Garcia bemoaned Roma’s lack of fortune as their Champions League adventure was ruthlessly ended by Manchester City on Wednesday night.
A win at the Stadio Olimpico would have seen the Giallorosi through to the last 16 – a goalless draw would, in the end, have also sufficed – but, despite a promising start, qualification never looked likely.
City weathered an early Roma storm before going in front on the hour mark thanks to a wonderful Samir Nasri drive. City right-back Pablo Zabaleta made sure of City’s progression from Group E along with Bayern Munich by netting the visitors’ second goal late on.
Garcia said: “I have no regrets from this match. It was a final and that was the problem. It was a match in which both teams did good things and only fortune decided the result.
“City are a more experienced team and we have to improve on some things. We have to have even more good players if we want to be at the same level as these big teams.
“I feel sorry for my players, we had the chance to qualify but we didn’t.”
The Frenchman was quick to turn his attention to the race for the Italian title, with second-placed Roma visiting Genoa on Sunday hoping to close the three-point gap to leaders Juventus.
He added: “Now we must think about Serie A and I want my players to play a great match on Sunday.
“[The players] have to get through this disappointment. We are in the Europa League but Serie A is a more important competition now.”
