Montella motivated for Parma clash

Roma caretaker boss Vincenzo Montella is looking forward to returning to Rome’s Olympic stadium for Sunday’s clash with Parma.

Montella was handed the reins at Roma on Monday after Claudio Ranieri resigned, and the 36-year-old – who made 194 appearances for the club as a player between 1999 and 2009 – said he was looking forward to taking charge of the side at home.

“The Olimpico always gives you strong support, it gave me strong support when I was a player, and I believe it will do even more now I am the coach,” Montella said.

“We are playing Parma, a team with excellent players. They have a lot of excellent strikers, so we need to remain focused.”

“I expect Parma to try their hardest as they need a good result, like us.”

Montella also paid tribute to his former teammate Francesco Totti, with the captain set to notch up his 600th appearance for the club on Sunday.

“As for Francesco, 600 matches are a lot to play so I give him massive congratulations on reaching that target,” he said.

“I think Totti is of great value for this team. He went through a period where he wasn’t in the best shape, but in the last few matches, he is returned to full fitness – see what he did in Bologna, he played with the right attitude.”

“He also had an excellent match against Genoa too. He’s definitely a very important player for me.”