Roma midfielder Daniele de Rossi has admitted he wanted to avoid Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champion League after the two sides were drawn against each other.
The veteran midfielder opined that the Italian club had been handed the most difficult draw possible.
“There were only great sides left in the draw. Maybe we would have preferred one of the others but we are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and already showed how proud we were about that,” he said after the draw was made.
“We were going to face one of the best seven sides around, maybe it’s a shame we ended up with arguably the best, but that’s the draw.” the Italian midfielder added.
The Spanish side are currently on an unbeaten run in La Liga.
The 34-year-old however, did state that the Serie A side would be well prepared ahead of the two-legged test against the runway La Liga leaders who are currently on a 35-game unbeaten run in the Spanish top division.
“So enough about luck or bad luck, we will focus on the two league games ahead of us and then, when the time comes, we will prepare and prepare very well for two huge nights, two big European occasions for Roma. We’ll get ready, be very prepared. Never say never,” Rossi said.
Barcelona will host the Italians in the first-leg at the Nou Camp on April 4 with the second-leg taking place a week later on April 11.