Gian Piero Gasperini insisted that the character of his Roma team cannot be criticised after they qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League.

Despite going down to 10 men in the 15th minute after a red card for Gianluca Mancini, Roma drew 1-1 with Panathinaikos courtesy of a late equaliser from 20-year-old Jan Ziolkowski.

Roma avoided defeat in a match in which they received a red card in the first 15 minutes of play for the first time since January 2010: a 1-0 home win in Serie A against Chievo.

Among the Italian teams to have participated in European competitions in the last 10 seasons, Roma are the only club to have always progressed beyond the group/league stage.

"You can criticise Roma for many things, but not the character shown by all these players," Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.

"Incidents are decisive in football and we were unlucky on the opening goal with a header backwards, so the best chance we had of equalising was, I assumed, a set play.

"Ziolkowski had gone close to a goal before and he did really well to stay up there to meet it.

"I’ve been working with young players for most of my life, so I give them responsibility. I saw with Atalanta and now here, the older players always have words of advice and support for the younger elements, they really set the example and give confidence to these lads."

After clinching eighth place in the league phase, Roma could face either Genk, Dinamo Zagreb, Brann or fellow Serie A side Bologna in the last 16.

"I don’t know if we are among the favourites or not, but we have certainly improved as we went on in the competition, gaining confidence and experience," Gasperini added.

"It wouldn’t have been a problem for me if we had been in the play-offs, it’s only two games and could’ve been a valuable opportunity to test different players."