Daniele De Rossi dismisses title chances

Roma captain Daniele De Rossi has said that talk of winning Serie A is premature following their 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Juventus.

The Italian international midfielder admitted that his team were outplayed by the reigning champions, who stretched their unbeaten run in Italy's top flight to 45 matches.

"Juventus were superior and seemed to know all our weaknesses. They were stronger than us," Football Italia has quoted De Rossi as saying.

"We lacked a lot tonight and can't clutch at straws. Everyone saw it was a negative performance in which Juve dominated, apart from a small spell in the second half when they took their foot off the gas."

The 29-year-old said that the fans should forget about winning the league, but said that a top-three berth is attainable.

"In my view it would be bad for the fans to think about the Scudetto, which I have always said," he added. "Looking at the other sides in the top places, if we have a great campaign then we can finish in the top three. That would be a very impressive achievement considering the situation."

The Galiarossi currently lie in seventh position.