Jose Mourinho has admitted Roma's humbling 4-0 away defeat against Udinese on Sunday was "ugly" for the supporters to watch.
The Europa Conference League holders were thumped in Udine thanks to goals from Destiny Udogie, Lazar Samardzic, Roberto Pereyra and Sandi Lovric. The heavy loss leaves Roma fifth in Serie A but just a point behind early pacesetters Napoli.
All eyes were on Mourinho in his post-match press conference as Roma fans looked to him for answers. The Portuguese refused to blame referee Fabio Maresca for the poor result, insisting it's hard to criticise officials when the margin of victory is so emphatic.
"It was a difficult match," Mourinho told DAZN. "It was a match you could not risk going down to begin with because they defend well, they know how to manage the tempo of the game, they're physical. If you go down against them you're already in trouble.
"We had a good chance at the start with Dybala who was our best player tonight. But Udinese... every time they countered either they created a chance or they scored."
Mourinho added: "The referee? When you lose 4-0 you don't talk about the referee. I prefer to lose a game 4-0 rather than four games 1-0. This was ugly, both for us and the fans. But it's life, and we move on."
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Roma suffered after mistakes from defender Rick Karsdorp and goalkeeper Rui Patricio. "We made mistakes at the worst times of the game," admitted Mourinho. "When we got close to 1-1, they practically closed it. They tried everything not to let us play. Now let's move on, we have 10 points. We are all there, we make our own path."
Mourinho made a number of signings on a limited budget to bolster his squad in the summer - including Nemanja Matic, Andrea Belotti, Paulo Dybala and Georginio Wijnaldum. The latter is currently unavailable after suffering a broken leg in training.
Roma enjoyed a good start to the season before losing against Udinese. They defeated Salernitana, Cremonese and Monza - and picked up a 1-1 draw at Juventus. Yet their recent humiliation is a reminder of the gap between them and the top teams in Italy.
Mourinho has urged his players to bounce back in their next game against Ludogorets in Razgrad, Bulgaria on Thursday. It's Roma's first Europa League fixture of the campaign as they look to progress from a group that also includes Real Betis and HJK Helsinki.
"I would rather lose one game 4-0 than four games 1-0," Mourinho told Roma's website. "That's for sure. We have lost three points whereas if you lose another three games you drop 12. It's a tough one to take for both us and the fans, but that is life. Tomorrow is another training session and on Thursday we have another game. We move on."
Roma's Europa Conference League success under Mourinho in May was their first trophy since their Coppa Italia success 14 years ago. They've finished as runners-up in Serie A nine times since winning their most recent league title in 2001.
