Mourinho proud of ‘fantastic’ Roma season played to the limit
Jose Mourinho insists he always knew Roma ‘did not have the resources’ to take top four in Serie A and reach the Europa League Final, so it remains a ‘fantastic’ season, even if the Bologna draw was another reminder he’s getting older.
The Giallorossi rotated their squad even more than usual, as the focus has to be on the Europa League semi-final after winning the first leg 1-0, with the decider away to Bayer Leverkusen coming up on Thursday.
When he arrived for the DAZN interview, the studio was analysing Mady Camara’s lunge that received a booking rather than a straight red, a decision the refereeing expert Luca Marelli agreed was the correct one.
“Palomino’s foul on Dybala, did you give that as many replays as Camara’s foul? It was a fair yellow card, he went for the ball, but he went aggressively,” said Mourinho.
“I am proud of this game, as even if a kid of the Under-15s or someone from the Women’s team comes in, the team does not change its professionalism and tactical principles. That makes me very proud.
“It was the first start for Svilar and Missori, while Tahirovic rarely plays, and it was up against a very tough and well-organised Bologna side, where Thiago Motta has done great work. Collectively, it was a good performance.”
Youth team talents were launched and relied upon, delivering a creditable point, considering this season Juventus, Inter, Milan, Lazio and Roma all failed to win at the Stadio Dall’Ara.
It does leave them six points adrift of the top four, but as Mourinho has pointed out many times, the squad is stretched to breaking point by these two competitions.
“The fans have to listen to me. When we were second or third in the table for a few weeks, I always said this team could only take it one game at a time, because when the fixtures accumulated, we did not have the resources to go all the way in both competitions.
“We tried never to choose between them, but for the last two or three months this is what I have been saying.”
Winning the Europa League would mean automatic qualification for the Champions League and they are only two games away from achieving that target.
“Our season is fantastic. People can say what they want and analyse the results, whether we win or don’t, finish fourth or seventh, but for me it has been a season played to the absolute limit. That is fantastic for me. It was again a difficult match, the draw is solid rather than suffered, we had a huge opportunity with Belotti to score, were denied a gigantic penalty, so it was well done.”
#SerieA | Le parole di #Mourinho al termine di @Bolognafc1909–@OfficialASRoma https://t.co/UzBWOFbEae
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) May 14, 2023
Mourinho now has to prepare the second leg of that semi-final in Germany against Bayer Leverkusen, with Paulo Dybala left at home today.
“Wijnaldum has recovered, he could play 60-65 minutes today and I took him off earlier because I didn’t want to lose a substitution slot when Celik got injured. Celik is a doubt for Thursday and Paulo is a big doubt.”
In the last few weeks, Mourinho has faced off against his former players Thiago Motta, Xabi Alonso, Dejan Stankovic as coaches.
“It is emotional, it means time is going by quickly, that they have grown up just like my kids and I have the strength to stay here after so many years. I know people might get tired of me and Ancelotti, but we are always here.”