Gasperini had no doubt Roma would bounce back from 'devastating' loss to Real Madrid

Gian Piero Gasperini harboured no doubts over whether Roma would be able to bounce back from their Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.

Roma went down 4-3 to Madrid in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, with Los Blancos scoring three late goals.

Yet Roma, despite the absence of Donyell Malen through suspension, eased to a 2-0 victory over Genoa to keep within touching distance of Serie A leaders Inter.

It marked Gasperini's 300th win in Serie A, as he became just the fifth coach to hit this milestone.

And he had no doubt Roma had the ability to put their defeat to Madrid behind them.

He told Sky Sport Italia: "Losing that way was devastating, because the performance had been so good, and thoroughly deserved.

"We ruined it for ourselves with three corner kicks in about seven minutes, but before that Real Madrid were not hurting us at all, in fact we were creating the chances.

"That's what irritated us, so I had no doubt that we would react well this evening. Many of the players had to experience it from the bench, so I knew they'd have that determination and energy in them today to let it all out on the pitch.

"Genoa might not have the champions of Real Madrid, but they are tactically very well-drilled, and it took us a while to get to grips with them."

Santiago Castro and youth product Emanuele Lulli grabbed the goals for Roma, who have taken 17 points from their first seven league matches for the first time since 2014-15 (18).

Roma are unbeaten in 40 of their last 41 home Serie A matches against Genoa (W33 D6), including all of their last 24 (W20 D4).