Roma coach Luciano Spalletti has defended dropping Francesco Totti for victory over Palermo.

Spalletti spoke to Sky Sport Italia after tonight's 5-0 win over Palermo and gave more insight into the situation, as Totti will be 40 in September and it doesn't look as if Roma want to offer a new contract.

“If you recall my first interview after becoming Roma Coach, I said that this would become a fundamental issue and I did not want to get involved.

“It is right that Totti does what he wants to do and I put every role at his disposal. With his history and charisma at Roma, he can do any role he wants to and everybody will follow his lead.

“I asked him do you want to be Giggs? You can be Giggs. Do you want to be Nedved? You can be Nedved. If you want to be a player, then you have to be on a par with the others in the team and I can't allow you any special treatment."