FULL OF PRIDE
RODGERS’ TEAM IS PRAISED BY JOSE
LEICESTER City will look to write their own story in Rome next week and it fills Brendan Rodgers with pride that his team have convinced Jose Mourinho they can do it, writes Jordan Blackwell.
City need to win in the Italian capital next Thursday to progress to the Europa Conference League final after a first leg draw. Amid 70,000 Roma fans, it could be a tricky proposition.
However, Rodgers knows if his team can replicate their dominant display from the King Power Stadium, they can upset the odds.
And Roma boss Mourinho has said he thinks City won’t be fazed by the atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico, something that greatly pleased Rodgers.
The City boss said: “Jose made a comment after the game last night that I took great pride in.
“One of the things I said when I came into here was that I wanted to develop a team that could go into any stadium and play with no fear.
“He mentioned that he didn’t think we would change or sit back, we would go and play how we want to play.
“That’s the beauty of the game, we can write our own story. That makes me happy, because to do that you have to play with confidence. That’s what we’ll look to do next week.
“If we play to the level we did last night, and be a bit more decisive, we will be in with a great chance of reaching the final.”
First, City travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tomorrow for a match against Antonio Conte’s Champions League chasers.
The significance of the game for City pales in comparison to that of next week’s semi-final second leg, but Rodgers believes having a final to play for will keep up the squad’s concentration in domestic competition too.
He said: “It’s that part of the season where you’re playing to reach a final, so that gives the players that motivation to keep going because they have something to aim for. We’ll always look to prove the point.
“Thankfully we have a lot of the squad nearly back, so that allows us to refresh the team and give it that energy when I think it’s needed.”