Gasperini: We learned more from the Manchester United collapse than from the Real Madrid game

Gian Piero Gasperini stressed that Roma have far more lessons to take from their Champions League collapse against Manchester United than from the defeat they suffered against Real Madrid.

Roma looked very close to beating United away from home in a major European competition for the first time, but once again they were unable to prevent a dramatic comeback.

Goals from Matías Soulé and Donyell Malen put Roma 2-0 up as early as the 17th minute. After Soulé made good use of the space out wide to find the net, the Dutch forward Malen converted a penalty awarded when Ayden Heaven handled Soulé's next shot inside the box.

The Italian side had chances to extend their lead, and Soulé hit the post in the closing moments of the first half. In the second half, however, everything turned around.

Bruno Fernandes saw his penalty, conceded by Gianluca Mancini, saved by the goalkeeper; but the kick was retaken because of an encroachment in the box, and this time Fernandes made no mistake.

Matheus Cunha then scored United's equaliser after Leonardo Balerdi failed to clear the ball. The Brazilian stepped up once more in the 86th minute to give his side the win.

Both of Roma's defeats in the Champions League this season have come in matches in which they held a two-goal lead (the earlier one being the 4-3 loss to Real Madrid). The Giallorossi have become the first team in Champions League history to lose two matches in the same season after building a two-goal advantage.

Speaking after the game, Gasperini said: "It was a different contest from the Real Madrid match; there, everything came from corner kicks in the last seven or eight minutes, and there was no real sign of a comeback. This time, especially after the penalty, Manchester United caught a sudden wave of momentum and we couldn't keep up with it."

The Italian head coach went on: "I don't think it's a coincidence, but they were different games. Against United we no longer had the strength to press their attacking players the way we did in the first half. The penalty and the mistake for the equaliser swung things completely in their favour. Against Manchester United you always go through an intense 15-20 minute spell of pressure; if you can get through that unscathed, there's no problem."

United went into the game on a nine-match winless run, having last won on 10 September against Sabah. The result against Roma was only their third win in all competitions.

Roma's second-half display, by contrast, was a complete disappointment. Offering nothing in attack, the Italian side failed to touch the ball in the opposition box in the second 45 minutes and did not even manage a shot.

"Honestly, we learned more from this game than from the Real Madrid one," Gasperini said. "That match was unpredictable, but when Old Trafford gets behind the team, we need to manage these situations much better in the future. They made tactical changes at half-time and pressed high because they had nothing to lose. Perhaps we should have used more long balls in that situation. The problem is that we couldn't respond to their moves; they dominated in the press, didn't let us play and caused us serious problems with their attacks. We should have tried to disrupt their rhythm more with a few changes."