De Rossi update on Dybala injury and Roma transformation

Daniele De Rossi gives an update on Paulo Dybala’s condition and explains his Roma tactical revamp in the Europa League semi-final with Bayer Leverkusen. ‘We need bodies in the box.’

It kicks off at the BayArena at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Atalanta-Olympique Marseille on the LIVEBLOG.

The Giallorossi are well aware that they need a miracle, having lost the first leg 2-0 at home and facing a team that is unbeaten in 48 competitive matches this season, winning 40 of them.

To make matters more difficult, Dybala is only fit for a place on the bench, so Sardar Azmoun is chosen to partner Romelu Lukaku rather than Tommaso Baldanzi.

“We want to put some bodies in the box, a bit more meat in there. We were also a little forced into it by Paulo’s condition,” De Rossi told Sky Sport Italia.

De Rossi tactical revamp

There are more radical changes, as Leonardo Spinazzola seems to be in the back three on the left wing behind Angelino, while Stephan El Shaarawy moves over to the right.

“When Spina and Ange play together on the left, they have a great way of combining, helping each other and also having different ways of being helpful, as one can dribble, the other can cross with any foot. We can then strike in the box with Romelu, Sardar or Bryan.”

Inevitably, De Rossi was asked about an update on Dybala’s condition after that muscular problem against Juventus and the response was not reassuring.

“If this was any other game, we would’ve left him at home, as yesterday after 10 minutes of training he felt a twinge. There were tests and no lesions, but what the player feels is more important than what the machine says. If he feels pain, we can’t use him.

“We’ll test him a little during the warm-up and if he feels ok, we can use him for 20-30 minutes.”