Roma coach Ranieri delighted with Spurs draw: A truly great performance

Evan N'Dicka and Mats Hummels struck for Roma to earn the point in London.

“The boys really put in a great performance. “I wasn't happy with the match against Napoli because I don't like to just defend and it wasn't the message I wanted to send to the players and the fans,” Ranieri told Sky Italia.

“This time I was very clear, I told them that I don't want a team that only defends. If they have an attack, we must attack them immediately in return.

“Fans of any club love a team that tries to win. You can achieve it or not, but the important thing is that you do your best to achieve that victory, and not wait to see what happens. I couldn't have been clearer with my players tonight about what I wanted from them.

“They gave me a strong answer and never gave up. “I told them that the result is important, yes, but the performance is even more important, because I want you to prove to the fans that you are here, to prove that you have not forgotten how to play football.”

The veteran coach also said: “This is what I asked. I said the result wasn't the problem, I wanted them to dig deep for all their resources. I congratulated Tottenham and Postecoglu because I admire their attacking mentality and getting the best out of their fast players.

“We also surprised them a few times with a cross-field pass to change things up and get their defense moving. We just weren't precise enough with our crosses until we finally were. “This is an important game because it reminds the players that they haven't forgotten how to play football, but it's still one game and we now have to build on that.”