Yaya Touré on Roma: "Difficult" Champions League clash with Slovan Bratislava at the Olimpico

Francesco Totti was at the Stadio Olimpico for Roma's Champions League league-phase match against Slovan Bratislava, the third matchday of the group stage. The Roma legend was on the touchline to watch the game. Before taking his seat, Totti spoke with Paulo Dybala and then gave Donyell Malen a warm embrace before the Roma players went out to warm up. The moment was shared by Sky Sport (Italia) in a post on social media.

Roma sporting director Tony D'Amico spoke to journalists before the club's Champions League League Phase third matchday game against Slovan Bratislava at the Stadio Olimpico, saying the squad is good enough to compete. On Endrick, he said January is a long way off and that the club is focused on itself for now. D'Amico was asked how the team had experienced the seven minutes against Real Madrid that Roma endured in their previous Champions League match. He said: "7 minuti particolari, senza respirare" – seven particular minutes, without breathing – but added that football is like this and the Champions League is a difficult competition. He pointed to the 80 spectacular minutes the team had played, adding that in all matches the club analyses every aspect and that in that game the negative aspect was the points. "Abbiamo vissuto una grande serata" – we had a great evening. Roma have already restarted their league campaign, with a win over Genoa featuring many young players. D'Amico described it as a nice evening and said the club was curious too. He praised head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, saying he is a master on this matter regardless of the players' age, and that if he has valid players at his disposal he always gets the maximum. The Genoa game came three days after the Real Madrid match, and D'Amico said the young players had been good and the club was truly happy. "Sappiamo che possiamo contare su una discreta rosa" – we know we can count on a decent squad. Asked whether Roma would try again for Endrick, D'Amico said: "Gennaio è molto lontano" – January is very far away. "Ora ci concentriamo su noi stessi, poi a gennaio metteremo il nostro massimo per mettere a disposizione del mister delle risorse" – now we are concentrating on ourselves, then in January we will do our utmost to make resources available to the coach.

Slovan Bratislava are looking to spoil Roma's night, with both sides still chasing their first win in this season's Champions League. Slovan's coach Yaya Touré spoke to Sky Sport shortly before kick-off, reflecting on his return to the stadium where he won the Champions League with Barcelona. Touré said: "I was on the pitch, it is always a pleasure and I am happy. I have wonderful memories, it was a special evening and a special final against United. We managed to win, but today is a different match and as a coach. We will see how my team plays, I am curious too." Asked what he expected from the Roma game, he said: "We have enormous respect for Roma, it is a very big club. We know it will be difficult. Against Real Madrid they were unlucky, they deserved to win and instead the game was decided in the last 10 minutes. It was a disappointment for them, but we know they will want to react. We will try to test them and we will see if we can take the result home."