Roma Players Disappointed by de Rossi Sacking, Juric Says 

Roma’s head coach Ivan Juric looks on during the Italian Serie A match between AS Roma vs Udinese Calcio at the Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 22 September 2024. (EPA)
Roma’s head coach Ivan Juric looks on during the Italian Serie A match between AS Roma vs Udinese Calcio at the Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 22 September 2024. (EPA)
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Roma Players Disappointed by de Rossi Sacking, Juric Says 

Roma’s head coach Ivan Juric looks on during the Italian Serie A match between AS Roma vs Udinese Calcio at the Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 22 September 2024. (EPA)
Roma’s head coach Ivan Juric looks on during the Italian Serie A match between AS Roma vs Udinese Calcio at the Olimpico stadium in Rome, Italy, 22 September 2024. (EPA)

New AS Roma coach Ivan Juric said his players were disappointed by the sacking of Daniele De Rossi, but he was pleased with their performance as they clinched their first Serie A win of the season by beating Udinese 3-0 on Sunday.

De Rossi, who spent nearly two decades at Roma as a player, was sacked on Wednesday after his team failed to win any of their first four league games. Former Torino coach Juric was appointed as his replacement.

Roma's CEO Lina Souloukou stepped down on Sunday due to the fans' anger over De Rossi's sacking.

"Upon becoming coach, I saw that some of the guys here were extremely disappointed about Daniele´s sacking," Juric told Sky Sports.

"They were very honest with me in telling me that they were very upset about him being fired. It's something I really appreciated, because sometimes players hide such emotions.

"In the last few days they have worked well and put in many hours... I really liked how the team responded, especially in the first half."

Roma, who have six points from five matches, host Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League on Thursday, before facing Venezia in Serie A on Sunday.

"We’ve got a large squad which allows me to shake things up. In the next two weeks we'll see a lot of rotation," Juric added.



Wirtz Returns to Help Leverkusen Beat In-Form Frankfurt 2-1 in Bundesliga

 Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt at BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday Oct. 19, 2024. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)
Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt at BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday Oct. 19, 2024. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)
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Wirtz Returns to Help Leverkusen Beat In-Form Frankfurt 2-1 in Bundesliga

 Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt at BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday Oct. 19, 2024. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)
Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt at BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday Oct. 19, 2024. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Florian Wirtz returned from injury to help Bayer Leverkusen defeat in-form Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday, when the latter was aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty in stoppage time.

Hugo Ekitiké looked set to score by heading the ball into an unguarded net after a mix up between goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah, but Tah rushed back to put the airborne Ekitiké off balance and miss the ball.

Frankfurt’s protests went unheeded and Victor Boniface’s 72nd-minute goal proved to be the winner for the defending champion.

Boniface had an early chance from the penalty spot but Kevin Trapp saved his poorly struck spot kick in the ninth minute.

Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush showed how it’s done seven minutes later, firing a penalty inside the left post after a clumsy challenge from Robert Andrich. It was Marmoush’s ninth goal in seven Bundesliga games, and it stretched his six-game scoring run.

But Andrich atoned by equalizing in the 25th after playing a one-two with Amine Adli and then Martin Terrier before a cool finish inside the far post.

Boniface finally scored when Trapp deflected substitute Wirtz’s cross kindly for a simple header.

Leverkusen said on Tuesday that Wirtz injured his ankle while on international duty with Germany.

Also, Xavi Simons starred for Leipzig to beat Mainz 2-0 away, Freiburg routed Augsburg 3-1 at home, Borussia Mönchengladbach defeated Heidenheim 3-2, and Hoffenheim defeated winless Bochum 3-1.