Roma manager Jose Mourinho still stands by his point, as he states that Roma didn’t lose the UEL finals last season against Sevilla in Budapest. The club is currently preparing for the Europa League opener against Sheriff. Their match kicks off in Tiraspol on Thursday at 12:45 EDT (17:45 UK time) in the group that also includes Slavia Prague and Servette.
Mourinho has again opened up about his feelings regarding last year’s final. Roma went all the way to the finals last season but faced a 1-1 draw with Sevilla. But his team couldn’t put up with the penalties against the Spanish side. The match was followed by a tense aftermath, which saw the manager receive a touchline ban after he repeatedly insulted the referee.
In a recent interview, Mourinho opened up about his previous year’s results. He said, “It is a different season to the last, a different competition. I will also continue to say until the bitter end that we did not lose that Final in Budapest. Every time people talk to me about it, I will tell them that we did not lose”.
⚠️ José Mourinho: “I will keep saying that until my final day as a manager — we did not lose the Europa League final against Sevilla”.
“We did NOT lose that final in Budapest and I won’t change my mind”. pic.twitter.com/iuHLMX0BiW
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 20, 2023
The manager concluded by saying, “Having said that today we start from scratch and the first objective is to qualify for the next phase. Last year we started the group with a defeat and that complicated matters, having to go through the play-offs, so winning the group would obviously be important”.
Roma’s start in Serie A so far hasn’t been what they were looking for this season. Out of the first four matches, they have only managed to win one and draw one, but have lost two. Although the win was an emphatic 7-0 against Empoli. The manager would now hope the team would be on the right track with their UEL journey starting on Thursday.
Jose Mourinho insists Romelu Lukaku needs to be loved as he scored his first goal in the club’s shirt
Roma boss Mourinho talks about his new summer signing Romelu Lukaku. The player joined Chelsea this summer on a one-year loan deal.
The Belgian striker has struggled for consistency in the past two seasons. And Mourinho talked about how to get the best out of him following his goal in Roma’s 7-0 rout of Empoli on Sunday. In a recent interview, Mourinho talked about the player’s new life at Roma. He said, “I found him happy, Romelu needs to be happy, to feel loved and wanted. He arrived here and immediately felt that the team needed a player like him”.
While further talking about the striker, Mourinho said, “Think he’s really happy, he obviously likes to win and that’s his nature. At Inter they have no reason to be angry because they won a derby 5-1 and have an extraordinary team, with many attackers. They must be happy for their former coach who needed Romelu”.
Jose Mourinho: “At Inter they have no reason to be upset about losing Lukaku. They just won the derby 5-1. Today they must be happy for me (their former coach) who needed Romelu.” 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/dvIYNCSWDT
— Vince™ (@Blue_Footy) September 18, 2023
After the former Manchester United man sealed a $121 million move to Chelsea from Inter Milan in August 2021, the forward has been the target of a lot of criticism due to his irregular performance in the attack. The 30-year-old striker scored 15 times for the Blues in 2021-22 and 14 times for Inter on loan last season. If the Portuguese manager can get the best out of Lukaku, the player could be an elite striker who is not unknown to the world.