Dybala’s injury shouldn't be an excuse for Roma, Betis boss Pellegrini

Roma will go to Spain to lock horns with Real Betis a week after their 2-1 defeat at the hands of the La Liga side. Paulo Dybala and Nabil Fekir are both out of action as they sustained injuries despite having featured for their sides in the reverse fixture.

“Surely, losing a player like Dybala always has an impact,”

Manuel Pellegrini

said at a press conference as quoted by

LaRoma24

.

“However, Roma don’t depend on one single player. Surely, they don’t depend on one player. I am sure they will have a strong replacement. It happened the same to us with Fekir, but it’s not an excuse.

“He [Fekir] is recovering from an injury, but there isn’t a date set for his return. He is not available for the match against Roma and the next one on Sunday.”

The Real Betis manager was asked what he expected from Roma following their previous clash.

“I expect a team with the same characteristics, I think it will be a balanced match but we deserved to win in Rome because we spent more time in their half. Mourinho’s teams have intensity and do well with counter-attacks.”

Jose Mourinho side have only gained three points in their first three matches in Europa League Group C as they lost two and won one game. They are six points adrift of the group leaders, Real Betis. The Portuguese manager has delivered two Europa League titles in his career, with the first coming at Porto in 2003 and the next at Manchester United in 2017. The Giallorossi have gained 19 points from their nine matches in Serie A this season as they had six victories, one draw and two losses.

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