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Zappacosta Urges Chelsea Teammates to Show Personality When They Face 'Strong' Roma in UCL Test

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Chelsea full-back Davide Zappacosta made himself an instant fan favourite when he scored a screamer against Qarabag in the Blues' first Champions League game this season.

And with the Londoners set to face AS Roma on Wednesday in what will be their third game of the European campaign, the Italian has urged his teammates to put on a strong performance.

The Blues have lost back-to-back games against Manchester City and Crystal Palace in the Premier League, but there is a chance to keep a perfect record in the Champions League.

Having won both of their matches so far, another win would all but secure passage to the next round for Antonio Conte's men, who are obviously desperate to get back to winning ways.

"It’s a chance for us to bounce back after the weekend," Zappacosta told the Chelsea website. "Roma are a very strong team, I know their manager Eusebio Di Francesco and I know the players. 

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"It will be a tough match but at the same time I think this team can do much better than we’ve shown in the last two games.

"We must stay strong and show a lot of personality. If we do that we can win the match. Roma are a good team in attack, they have some quality players, and defensively we need to be strong and try to keep the ball.

"We’ve won our first two games and we have to continue in this way because if we beat Roma it will put us in a strong position, which means the game is very important."

Reflecting on his stunner of a goal against Qarabag, the summer acquisition described the feelings that followed as very special, especially as Chelsea won the game.

"It was a very special moment," he said. "The atmosphere was fantastic and I was very happy with the goal and the fact we won the game. It was very important for me and I enjoyed celebrating with the fans.

"It was a very good night and it’s a nice sensation when the supporters sing your name, a dream come true. I hope they continue to sing for a very long time."