Following last night’s defeat at the Stadio Olimpico, Helsinki midfielder Perparim Hetemaj assessed his side’s chances in the Europa League. The 35-year-old recognized Roma’s strength and compared them to the other favorites in the group – Real Betis.
“Roma have more quality than Betis,” Hetemaj told reporters after the final whistle. “Betis did not show much quality when they played against us, but the synthetic pitch may have influenced their performance.”
“For us, playing at home is easier because we are used to it. It won’t be easy for Roma to play in Finland when it’s cold,” he added.
“It’s shame that we lost a man due to a red card for a foul that honestly looked quite normal to me. But I prefer not to comment any further,” Hetemaj said referring to his side going down to ten men within the first fifteen minutes of playing time.
“We knew that Roma are stronger than us, but we wanted to have a shot at competing for the final result.”
