Former Roma captain Francesco Totti has warned the club not to underestimate any of their opponents in the Champions League, but insisted the Giallorossi can challenge Real Madrid.
The Italian outfit have been drawn alongside the current holders in the group stages, as well as CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen of Russia and Czech Republic respectively.
Following the identification of their opponents, Totti outlined Roma’s ambitions in the competition, and admitted that the two clashes against Real Madrid would be a source of excitement.
“I will make no declarations, as anything can happen in this tournament and we cannot underestimate anyone,” the 41-year-old told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Against Real Madrid over the 180 minutes it will be exciting and I’m sure the players can’t wait. I’m curious to see how they perform after a big summer. They lost something in Cristiano Ronaldo [to Juventus] but it is a team that always plays with heart and have a lot of champions in their squad.”
Roma reached the semi-finals last term after a fantastic run, but Totti was looking to go one better this time around.
“The final will be in Madrid and our challenge is to reach it. We will try to achieve this because we have a competitive squad that is no weaker than last year.”
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com