It was a night to forget for former Sassuolo boss De Zerbi on his first return back to his native Italy as a manager, as the Seagulls suffered the heaviest defeat by an English club in Europe for five years.
Several defensive errors proved costly for Brighton at the Stadio Olimpico, as goal from Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, Gianluca Mancini and Bryan Cristante have put Roma firmly in the driving seat to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
Brighton have now lost three successive matches across all competitions for the first time under De Zerbi, while it is the first time the 44-year-old has been beaten in three straight games as a coach since January 2020 (a run of three with Sassuolo).
Reflecting on the disappointing result, De Zerbi told reporters: «We played our game and we gave our best and maybe now our best at this moment is this performance.
»Roma were much better in terms of showing their experience of playing this type of game and we suffered too much at this level of the competition, which we're not used to.
«We lost against a stronger team than us. Roma players are used to playing this kind of match. I am Italian. I know these players, they were already good players.
»We created a lot of chances — the same perhaps in numbers — but Roma played with a different speed and habits to win the game. It's the first time Brighton played in the Europa League last 16 — it's a big level for us.
«Today is the day I love my players the most. I know we played 20% less than our potential. It is
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