Roma have made a stuttering start to the new season but were expected to comfortably see off Cluj who currently sit seventh in the Romanian league and were making their debut in Europe's premier club competition.

Things seemed to be going according to plan when Christian Panucci opened the scoring in the 17th minute but a Juan Culio brace saw the visitors pull off one of the biggest shocks in Champions League history.

It was a stunning Champions League debut for Cluj and their new coach, in only his second ever professional game in charge.

"If you had told me before I would have taken you for a crazy person," said Trombetta. "I certainly couldn't think of such a thing.

"I'm happy because to begin immediately at this level is incredible. My second match as a professional, the first in the Champions League... it doesn't exist in the world!

"I'm delighted for me and for the lads. It was also their debut and they were a bit scared of finding something greater than them, instead they showed that they were at the same level.

"The lads did very well not to abandon all our tactics after the goal. We continued to play as we had from the start and that got us the result."

Cluj are now second in the Group A, level on points with their next opponents Chelsea who beat Bordeaux 4-0.

Trombetta admits he does not expect a similar result against last year's beaten finalists, but claims third spot - and a UEFA Cup berth - is now very much a realistic aim for his team who were originally expected to be the group whipping boys.

"This result gives us a big injection of confidence," he continued. "Nobody believed we'd get the three points here and now we're second in the group.

"It'll be difficult to stay there, but after this match we'll keep working hard. But we have to be realistic: our target was and remains third place.

"Now we must prepare so we're at our peak for the game in two weeks against Chelsea."

Cluj last term became the first team outside Bucharest to win the Romanian title for 17 years but a dismal start to the season saw Trombetta replace Ioan Andone in the hotseat at the beginning of the month.

Trombetta, a long-time assistant coach, had only one year's managerial experience under his belt - at amateur side Sevegliano.

And the Italian has dedicated his remarkable achievement in his homeland to Andone and former Palermo coach Francesco Guidolin, who he assisted for six years at Udinese and Bologna.

"This result was unthinkable before the match, but it was absolutely deserved and I think it's right to give recognition to Andone's staff," added Trombetta. "I'm collecting the fruit of their work.

"It's hugely satisfying for me personally but Andone deserves a lot of credit as he was the person who led the team to the Romanian title.

"I would also like to dedicate this to Guidolin. The game today was a bit in his style for the attention to tactics and to taking away as much as possible the game from Roma.

"We showed that we have the mentality of counter-attacking always and looking to create difficulties for Roma: the ideal mix."