Tchouaméni declines to discuss referees ahead of Roma match

“I don’t want to talk about the referees. Right now, we’re very frustrated with the decisions,” Tchouaméni said. The Real Madrid midfielder was speaking at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the day before his team’s match against Roma on Wednesday at 21:00, in the second round of the Champions League league phase.

He did not dwell on the issue, instead putting the sporting challenge first. “It’s an important match. We started in the best possible way against Inter and want to keep going like that against Roma,” he said. Tchouaméni expects a difficult contest against a strong side. He watches Roma’s matches and acknowledged the added challenge of playing away, but believes Real Madrid have the quality to win.

Tchouaméni also addressed the criticism that comes with playing for the club. He said the players need to stay calm and improve as a team. “We can do better, for sure, and we work every day to improve,” he said. On refereeing decisions, he said he had his own view but did not want to discuss it. “The most important thing is that we won, and now we have to look ahead,” he added.

The midfielder also stressed teamwork and balance. He said the players give everything with the resources available to them, and that working together in midfield is especially important. In his view, Diomande’s arrival gives the group additional help as it targets titles. Tchouaméni acknowledged that Real Madrid had not yet played at their best with the ball from the start, but said the team was working on that in training.

On physical effort, he argued that running has to be done intelligently, since statistics do not always tell the whole story. He also said he had spoken with his coach about how he could help the team. The coach asked him to provide balance, move forward with the ball and score, while making balance the priority.

Asked about individual awards, Tchouaméni said Kylian deserved recognition after an outstanding season, while also naming Ousmane and Olise among the French players who had performed very well. For him, the most important thing is that the coach wants to win.