Claudio Ranieri ‘confident’ ahead of Porto return leg | OneFootball

Roma manager Claudio Ranieri spoke to Sky Sport on the eve of the match against Porto.

In his interview, Ranieri declared himself confident ahead of the must-win match.

Ranieri was asked about Gianluca Mancini’s importance to the squad, “I believe that in football, both today and in the past, character and personality are fundamental. A player must have them, otherwise he cannot express himself fully.”

“I want this type of player. I would like to have, how many are in the squad? 23, 26? Well, I would like 26 leaders, because a leader thinks like a coach. He does not think selfishly only for himself, but looks to the common good, just like a coach does.”

“Porto? When we face a team, we study it, we analyze it, but then there is always the uncontrollable, and we can’t do anything about that. What I ask of my players is to give me a solid performance. Performance means that each player must be able to command himself, to give his best, even in difficult moments, and to help his teammate, because we all go through difficult moments on the pitch.”

“The players must talk to each other, support each other. This is performance for me. Then, of course, you can play well or play badly, but we are not machines or robots that we put on the pitch and always give the same thing. It is up to us coaches, based on what we have on the bench, to understand how the players are, how they feel, and decide whether it is the case to make a change or not.”

“Hummels? He’s fine, he trained well this week, so he’s available. Dybala? I always say, by the law of large numbers, it will have to change, right? Sooner or later he will score.”