Luciano Spalletti urges Juventus to 'have faith' in pursuit of UEFA Champions League spot after draw with Roma - 'I live for fourth place'

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Juventus came from two goals behind against Roma to stage a brilliant second-half comeback in a 3-3 draw on Sunday - a result which ultimately achieved nothing in their pursuit to usurp Gian Piero Gasperini's side into fourth place in Serie A. Speaking after the match, Juve boss Luciano Spalletti urged his side to "have faith" as they look to salvage their season.

'Never know when they're beaten!' - Gatti equalises for Juventus at the death

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Juventus boss Luciano Spalletti has urged his side to "have faith" as they look to climb towards a top-four finish in Serie A.

Juve's hopes of closing the four-point gap on Roma - who occupy the final UEFA Champions League berth - were hit when they managed only a point in a 3-3 draw against Gian Piero Gasperini's men on Sunday.

But it could have been a lot worse for Spalletti's side, who fell 3-1 behind with 25 minutes to go, before Jeremie Boga pulled one back and Federico Gatti equalised three minutes into stoppage-time at the Stadio Olimpico.

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In his post-match assessment of the match, Spalletti said he was happy with his team's reaction to going behind, but not so pleased with the overall outlook on Juve's season - as they sit sixth with 11 matches remaining.

"If we are talking about the reaction, then yes I am happy, but if we look at the first season, then I am not very happy," Spalletti told DAZN Italia.

"We have to make an objective evaluation here. We went out of the Champions League in that manner after playing 120 minutes and getting a situation back on track that had become a mountain to climb.

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"However, we were also too sluggish on the second and third goals. The players believed, they fought back, but we put ourselves in that situation too."

Juve have found themselves in a tough run of form since the start of February. While they forced extra-time with Galatasaray after charging back from a three-goal deficit in the second leg, they exited the competition as Victor Osimhen and Baris Alper Yilmaz both netted in extra-time.

Meanwhile, they are on a five-match winless run domestically, having also exited the Coppa Italia, and securing a spot in next season's Champions League represents the final chance to salvage their season.

"When you are 66 years old like me, you too will realise that you always believe, and that is what you must pass on to the players," Spalletti said.

"There are these flurries of enthusiasm created by moments of quality. Boga has intuition and can create situations out of nothing, so do Kenan Yildiz and [Edon] Zhegrova. We must always have faith, in sport and in life."

Spalletti added: "I live for fourth place. We had a moment where too much weighed on us, and we were not too fortunate either, but this team has grown a great deal in many different aspects."

Gasperini: Roma 'too passive again'

For Roma boss Gasperini, the failure of his side to defend the free-kick which resulted in Gatti's last-gasp equaliser was disappointing.

"We were too passive again," Gasperini told DAZN Italia. "We were in the right positions, but our league is full of these situations in the final minutes, where teams like Juve, Milan, Inter and Napoli manage to get games back on track in the final minutes or even stoppages.

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"They throw players forward who are good in the air and on set plays, they picked up a lot of points in these situations.

"They deserve congratulations for that, but we also could’ve done better, as our defending was too static, when we should’ve been aggressive."

The outlook for Roma's season remains positive, though. They are three points clear of fifth-placed Como, and have lost just once in the league since the start of January.

"Obviously, a win here would’ve put us seven points clear of Juventus and represented a big step forward, but we are still up there," added Gasperini.

"We are in the race, we put in an extraordinary performance, and this result should not knock us down."

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