At the Stadio Olimpico, Brighton and Hove Albion’s first leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Roma ended in a heartbreaking 4-0 loss.
After Brighton was humiliated by Roma, their European experience turned into a nightmare. Former Brighton player Steve Sidwell provided a straightforward but insightful explanation.
After leading the Seagulls to a four-game winning streak in the Europa League, Roberto De Zerbi had led them there. However, goals in the first half from Romelu Lukaku and Paulo Dybala put the visitors in a precarious situation in Rome.
Even worse was to come as Gianluca Mancini and Bryan Cristante scored two goals each to effectively end the stalemate after the break.
Danny Welbeck was denied multiple times by the Premier League team, but injury-plagued Brighton will need a miracle to overcome a four-goal lead in the second leg next week.
At times in Rome, the Seagulls were completely exposed as De Zerbi’s risk-reward style of play was met with the most agonising punishment.
Speaking on TNT Sports, Sidwell stated, “De Zerbi only knows one way.”
