Roma relishing Man Utd meeting: We have to beat those who are great

Roma are ready to step up to the challenge of taking on Manchester United in the semi-finals of the Europa League despite an unconvincing display against Ajax.

Serie A side Roma reached just their second Europa League/UEFA Cup semi-final with a 1-1 draw at home to Ajax on Thursday.

That result was enough to advance 3-2 on aggregate following an away win in the first leg, but Roma were made to work by the Eredivisie giants, who dominated 71.7 per cent of the possession.

Roma trailed to Brian Brobbey’s second-half strike, although Edin Dzeko eased nerves slightly in the Stadio Olimpico with his equaliser 18 minutes from time.

Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini told Sky Sport: “We showed tonight that we’re growing. We’re happy but we can’t get too euphoric; this is only the semi-final.

“We want to play three more games in this competition – we’ll have to improve in order to do so.

“Now we face Manchester United. We realise that if we want to do something great, we have to beat those who are great.”

The semi-finals are