Europa League Hopes Left Hanging After A 4 0 Thrashing

Brighton's Europa League Hopes Hang in the Balance After Roma Thrashing

Europa League hopes left hanging after a 4-0 thrashing

Brighton faces a tough task in the second leg

Brighton's hopes of progressing in the Europa League were left hanging by a thread after a 4-0 thrashing by Roma in their last-16 first leg on Thursday.

Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, Gianluca Mancini, and Bryan Cristante scored for Roma, who were dominant throughout the match at the Stadio Olimpico.

The result leaves Brighton with a mountain to climb in the second leg at the Amex Stadium on March 16. They will need to win by a margin of at least five goals to progress.

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi admitted that his team had been outplayed by Roma.

"We were not good enough tonight," he said. "Roma were better than us in every department. We have to learn from this experience and come back stronger in the second leg."

Roma manager Jose Mourinho was delighted with his team's performance.

"We played a great game," he said. "We were very aggressive and we created a lot of chances. We could have scored more goals, but I am happy with the result."

The second leg of the tie will be played at the Amex Stadium on March 16.