Roma suffered a major disappointment in the Italian Serie A title race after managing only a 1-1 draw with Hellas Verona in the latest league match. Francesco Totti gave Roma the lead after 26 minutes with a stunning strike that reminded of the striker’s best.

However, he was unable to prevent Roma from raising their game to match the opposition, who produced a comeback within 12 minutes of this goal. Manager Garcia was disappointed with the intensity shown by his players. Janković score the equaliser that could prove very crucial for Roma’s chances of finally winning the league title.

The draw means that the second placed team has now won only one out of the last five matches. It has seen Juventus extended the lead to nine points with just over 10 matches left in the campaign.

More worryingly, the chasing pack have been able to close the gap towards Roma. The likes of Napoli and Lazio are extremely close. In fact, Napoli can overtake Roma if results go their way next week. The fact that Roma have an important Europa league match in midweek means that they will be tired for the massive clash against Juventus next week. Garcia says that Roma should have comfortably won the match for the chances that they created.

“Verona weren't in the contest in the first half and the guys showed that if we move the ball about quickly, we can hurt any team.In the second half, however, we weren't patient enough and the errors we made allowed our opponents back in the game. In the last 15 minutes, we were missing that bit of sharpness to find the final ball. We should have taken some of the chances we had. Aside from [Adam] Ljajic hitting the bar, there was also that great shot from [Radja] Nainggolan,” said Garcia.