After Roma drew 0-0 away at Como while playing with 10 men, Gasperini was interviewed by DAZN.

"I think Dybala performed exceptionally well, even when we were down to 10 men. He played a very high-quality game, and I don't remember him losing the ball. The situation in the first half was unfortunate, but he still delivered a superb performance today. After Malen was substituted, this was the most natural choice given the personnel available, and he convinced me during the match. He gave us space to breathe and build play. We could have launched counter-attacks, and his performance was consistently solid. He was the most affected player because he had to navigate between two defenders. He accomplished all of this with great football intelligence, performing like a top player who truly understands the game."

You didn't face any risks after going down to ten men.

"In the first half, we created scoring chances just like Como, and we felt we had an opportunity to take the lead. After that, we played two-thirds of the match with one man down, and that's where the regret lies. We were very confident in ourselves and felt we had good chances, but we were forced to defend with 10 men, and we did so very organized and calmly. Playing 30 minutes with one less player and getting a draw is acceptable."

Gollini had a successful debut.

"He did very well in the first half, both with his feet and his hands. The team put him in the right position, and he was very focused and precise. He will be a good replacement for Svilar."

Now it's time to face Real Madrid.

"If you look at Real Madrid, you'll find a team full of champion players both on and off the field. We are facing one of the strongest teams in Europe, and they have made excellent signings this summer. Mourinho left a very deep impression, and our team is completely different from his. For me, this team has given me a lot of satisfaction, and today we had to show strong fighting spirit and enough drive to perform like this."

Do you think Malen's red card was the correct decision?

"I don't know, to be honest. There was a continuous foul on Malen. To say it was violent action is really hard to justify. He reacted after being pulled and touched the ball: what looked bad was the jumping motion, but there was no intention to deliberately injure, and that's not his style. This incident made the game unpleasant. It's easy to judge from a freeze-frame, but football is made up of continuous actions: if that's all it takes to explain everything, it would be too simple. In this case, there was no intention to injure. It's time to stop focusing on freeze-frames; they distort reality. This year we have seen more authentic football, please don't drag it back with these absurd freeze-frames."

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