Roma coach Claudio Ranieri admits they were lucky to reach the Coppa Italia final after defeat to Udinese last night.

The Serie A leaders lost 1-0, but progressed 2-1 on aggregate.

"It was a difficult game and we expected that," said Ranieri. "Udinese are going through a good period of form, but we believed in ourselves.

"We put in an organised performance, then at the end we suffered a great deal."

Udinese had a series of chances to force extra time in the final minutes, including Gokhan Inler hitting the post.

"I'm frankly glad to lose our winning streak in this way than in Serie A. The important thing is that we don't hit the brakes in the Scudetto race."