CFR’s Italian-born coach Maurizio Trombetta was remarkably calm in the aftermath of his side’s shock 2-1 victory at Roma.
The Italian paid tribute to the work of his predecessor Ioan Andone, as well as his players who “fully deserved” the victory in their first-ever Champions League game.
“We achieved a result which nobody could have predicted on the eve of the game – and we fully deserved it,” said Trombetta. “It’s hugely satisfying for me personally but Andone deserves a lot of credit as he was the person who led the team to the Romanian title.
“Nobody believed we’d get the three points here and now we’re second in the group, but we have to be realistic: our target was and remains third place. Now we must prepare so we’re at our peak for the game in two weeks against Chelsea.
“In Roma I saw a team who had difficulty creating space and who were therefore unable to play their usual game. They started playing long balls into our box which made our job easier. We knew then they were in trouble and that was a big boost for us during the game.
Roma coach, Luciano Spalletti, said his side paid the price for a lack of composure.
“We did some things well and some things less well tonight, more or less like in our recent defeat in Palermo,” he admitted.
“Cluj were very good, albeit a bit lucky when they scored their second goal. My team lost their composure and failed to show the quality which they usually have, something I think is both a mental and physical problem.
“When you don’t achieve good results it’s easy to lose your calm and everything then becomes more difficult. I think we played well in the first half with the exception of a ten-minute spell in which Cluj were better than us. I expected much more from my team in the second half, especially regarding their character.
“I’m pleased to see how sad the players are right now. It means they understand there is something to put right quickly. We’ve known from the outset that Chelsea were the best team in the group but we now have to concentrate solely on our results and believe that hard work can help rectify this situation.”
