Garcia: We got the first half wrong

Rudi Garcia claimed a lack of balance was the reason behind Roma’s 3-2 Champions League defeat to BATE, though he felt his side’s second-half comeback deserved a share of the spoils.

The Serie A side endured a miserable trip to Belarus, conceding three first-half goals against a team who had never beaten Italian opposition in their eight previous attempts.

Gervinho and substitute Vasilis Torosidis found the net after the break to give Roma hope and they came close to getting back on level terms when Alessandro Florenzi struck the bar.

However, the disappointing away defeat leaves Roma stuck at the bottom of Group E with only a point to their name.

“Obviously we got the first half wrong,” Garcia told Mediaset Premium.

“Perhaps we lacked balance, seeing as we conceded all the goals on the same flank.

“Football is made up of errors and we made more of them. 

“At least in the second half we did everything possible to get back into the game and deserved a point. We didn’t deserve to win obviously after that first half, but a draw would’ve been fair.”

Garcia was particularly disappointed with the way his side “fell apart” after Igor Stasevich broke the deadlock in the eighth minute.

They allowed BATE’s Filip Mladenovic to score twice, with the left-back’s first of the night seeing him catch Wojciech Szczesny badly out of position in the Roma goal. 

“It was possible to get points here, but we conceded on the first counter-attack and the team then fell apart. We had to put everything back on track in the second half,” Garcia added.

“I don’t think we took the wrong approach, because the opening five minutes were good, as we created chances and pressed them.

“We paid for their first efforts and when 3-0 down it’s more complicated to come home with points. Luck wasn’t on our side either, but it is our fault and mine too if we played so badly in the first half.”