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Roma players attempted to placate angry supporters after their exit from the Europa League on Thursday night. With the tie evenly poised at 1-1 after the first leg, Roma fell apart by conceding three goals in the first 20 minutes of the return leg of their Stadio Olimpico home -- and the fans on the Curva Sud area of the stadium was left practically empty as the fans voted with their feet. Roma's season is falling apart, out of Europe and with only one win in Serie A in the last two months. They are still second in the league but they have seen Juventus storm 14 points ahead of them, while Lazio have moved to within a point. More worrying for Roma is the growing challenge from Napoli, Fiorentina and Sampdoria who are also closing in and could put the Giallorossi's Champions League qualification in jeopardy unless the slide is arrested. The fans slowly filtered back into the ground in time for the final whistle as Roma were well beaten 3-0, when the players went over to explain themselves. "Nobody is hiding from their responsibilities," goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis told Roma TV. "We feel responsible -- we're the first people not to be happy with how we're doing. "When the fans manifest their disappointment, we're obliged to assume our responsibility and listen to their thoughts and disappointment close up, but and I can only emphasise that we share those [thoughts]." De Sanctis and his teammates left the Stadio Olimpico by a back door to avoid fans who were congregated by the players' entrance. Coach Rudi Garcia also left in a private car rather than on the team bus, despite showing defiance in his postmatch interviews. "Anyone with pride and character will follow me. If anyone is weak, then they do not interest me," he told Mediaset. "I'm mortified." It was neither Garcia nor the players' fault, according to the club's director of sport Walter Sabatini, who said that it was he who had got everything wrong. "Tonight, the team laid bare all of the mistakes I made in the [winter] transfer market and I've got to acknowledge that," he told Mediaset. "I've got to consider my mistakes and see how many points we've lost along the way because of this. Not signing [Mohamed] Salah is one of these. We needed forwards in January and I made my choices, and we saw tonight the result -- in a negative sense. "But we're not talking about resignations here. Nobody's running away tonight." Security services were put on alert for Roma's planned training session on Friday morning with angry fans expected to be in attendance at Trigoria. There, Roma will be hard at work trying to resurrect their season with city rivals Lazio breathing down their neck. "There are 11 battles remaining in Serie A," said Garcia. "It's just the staff and the players. I will not let go for a second, we have to lift our heads and get back up." On Sunday night, Roma travel to Cesena, a team firmly embroiled in a relegation battle, and Garcia will be expected to return with three points.
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