The Giallorossi coach is not feeling optimistic about his team’s chances of coming away with a win in Wednesday’s Champions League tussle
Rudi Garcia has pessimistically proclaimed Roma have just a one in 10 chance of coming away with a result from their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
The Scudetto runners-up were thrashed 7-1 a fortnight ago on home soil, making a trip to the Allianz Arena seem even more daunting as they go in search of redemption and a vital point or three in their fourth group stage game.
Roma head into the European clash having been beaten by Serie A top-three challengers Napoli but Garcia is feeling positive about his team – despite downplaying the Giallorossi’s chances to the extreme.
“We have a small chance of coming away with a positive result tomorrow, perhaps a one in 10 chance,” Garcia told reporters on Tuesday.
“But what matters is our performance. The last match against Bayern was a blip: we responded well to that defeat, drawing at Sampdoria and beating Cesena. We did then go and lose against Napoli, but there’s no shame in defeat at the San Paolo.
“We’re not worried. I look at what we’ve done since the start of the season: we’re second in Serie A and second in our Champions League group. I don’t think that’s bad.
“It’s not the players who we’re missing that affect the outcome of games but the fact the same guys are always out there. Once we reach the next international break we can get a few men fit again and then think about rotating.”
Garcia is keeping his fingers crossed that his players do not capitulate the way they did in the Stadio Olimpico last month, although he pointed out the threat posed by the swelling of recognised individual talent Pep Guardiola has at his disposal in Bayern’s dressing room.
“We hope to upset the odds but the main thing is that we put in a gutsy display, that we’re aggressive and compact,” he added.
“Bayern have six players on the 23-man Ballon d’Or shortlist: we know how good they are, that’s why I say it will be tough. If we get our heads down and give them a fight we can do well.
“We want to enjoy this Champions League campaign. We’re not going out there feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ll see if we give a better account of ourselves than last time.
“Whatever happens tomorrow won’t determine anything regarding qualification; we’ll still have two games to play.”
Roma are second in Group E with four points from three games, two points ahead of Manchester City and three points clear of bottom-placed CSKA Moscow.