Gasperini previews Roma vs. Midtjylland: ‘Dybala and Bailey available’

Gian Piero Gasperini has confirmed that Paulo Dybala and Leon Bailey should be available for Roma’s Europa League test against top-of-the-table Midtjylland on Thursday evening, and has explained how the Danish side have kicked on so effectively over the last few years. 

Roma sit at the top of the Serie A table after the weekend’s round of league fixtures, but have to turn their attention back to the Europa League on Thursday, where they currently sit in 18th place after two wins and two losses from their opening four matches in the competition. 

Midtjylland, meanwhile, have a perfect record of 12 points from their opening four Europa League matches, and currently have a two-point lead at the top of the standings. 

“They’re a good team with quality in attack and excellent young players. It will be an open game with two good teams who want to score goals,” Gasperini said during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.  

Is there a reason why Scandinavian clubs and nations have been performing so well on the international stage as of late? 

“They work hard, they’ve always had physicality and now also have technique. They’ve evolved well, as evidenced by the results at a club and national level. There is no technical difference between them and us Italians. Midtjylland have won four games, that’s definitely a sign.” 

How does a coach go about improving things on a mental and physical level? 

“That seems a bit reductive to me, football is a mixture of everything,” Gasperini replied. This team is going well, playing lots of games has helped us grow and we’re finding more solutions now. 

“We have a lot of personality, even when we’re away, we’ve always played our own game. All this mixed together has got us where we are today. We’re having a good moment and we have to try and keep that going for a long time to come.” 

There was a big boost regarding the availability of attackers Dybala and Bailey: “They’ve healed. They’re having their second training sessions with the team. They’ll be available if all goes well. How many minutes is another thing, but what matters is that they’re both doing well.” 

Gasperini was asked how he plans to cope with the upcoming losses of Evan Ndicka and Neil El Aynaoui for the Africa Cup of Nations.

He replied: “They’ll leave the week before AFCON, they might not be there from Como onwards. I’ll be sorry to lose them, but we’ll have to make do with what we’ve got, we have a lot of resources. 

“We already knew about their absences. They could go a long way in the competition, but we don’t want them to,” the coach said with his tongue in cheek.

And with a final assessment of tomorrow’s opposition, Gasperini reflected on his previous encounters with Midtjylland from his time in charge of Atalanta. 

“Their ranking might come as a surprise to some, but it’s deserved, I’ve played there twice, it’s a team that has come on a lot. The players are interesting now. It was already tough enough before. I’m aware of their value and of their evolution.”