Roma coach Luciano Spalletti parted company with the club yesterday despite leading them to second place in Serie A this season with a club-record points haul.

The shaven-headed 58-year-old’s second stint with Roma lasted a little less than 18 months and ended two days after a 3-2 win over Genoa guaranteed the side second spot on 87 points, and a place in next season’s Champions League group stage.

However, it was not all plain sailing for Spalletti, who became exasperated at the constant pressure to field 40-year-old Francesco Totti, the talismanic playmaker whose 25 seasons at Roma ended in an emotional farewell on Sunday.

Totti benched

Spalletti relegated Totti to the bench for most of the season, handing him a few cameo appearances, and said at one point that he would not have taken the job in the first place if he had known how awkward the situation would become.

Yesterday, Spalletti claimed he did not deserve the jeers some fans aimed at him on Sunday and remained friends with Totti.

“I’m a decent person and I’ve always worked hard for Roma,” he told a press conference. “I’ve made mistakes but I’ve always stuck to my beliefs. I have my way of working and of doing things and that’s what I believe in. I tried to put it into practice and it’s taken us to where we are now.”

Roma president James Pallotta said Spalletti, who led them to third place in Serie A last season, had made a “significant contribution”.

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