Jose Mourinho has explained why he shed tears after Roma advanced to the Europa Conference League final following their victory over Leicester City.
Mourinho’s Roma triumphed 2-1 on aggregate over their Premier League opponents last night, with Tammy Abraham’s early goal enough to send the Italians through to the competition’s inaugural final in Albania on May 22.
If the Giallorossi win, it will be their first major trophy since the 2008 Coppa Italia, and Mourinho would be the first manager to reach four European finals with four different clubs.
Explaining his emotions after the match, Mourinho said: “I am very emotional,
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“This for us is our Champions League.
“When you work in Rome, live in Rome and breathe Rome, you breathe this club because it is the real club of the city.
“I felt from day one it is huge… but no victories and not many finals. The history is not related to the social dimension of the club.
“We managed to build an OK team that grew step by step so we could beat a Premier League [club]. Of course, I have had bigger moments than this but I am not feeling for myself, I am feeling for the people and my players.”
Mourinho also seemed to aim a jibe at his former club Tottenham Hotspur, who sacked him just days before the Carabao Cup final in April 2021.
“Every club that I coached I reached the final,” he said. “I cannot say I played the final with all of them.”
As the dust settled on Leicester City’s European campaign, which saw them fail to make a European final for the first time in their history, Brendan Rodgers admitted that he was underwhelmed by some areas of the Foxes’ performance.
He said: "Of course when you lose a second leg of a semi-final it's disappointing. In the first half it wasn't aggressive enough,
"The players kept going until the very end but we couldn't find that big chance.
“There wasn't many in the game for both teams."
"It's been a great journey for us in Europe in the last couple of years."
“We have a lot of young players that are finding their way and this was a great experience for them.
“That will provide motivation for them next season,
"We just missed out so we're disappointed, but we need to finish the season strongly now and look to progress in the summer for next season."
Next season is unlikely to see Rodgers’ team take part in European competition, as they currently sit 11th in the Premier League table.
Topics: Europa Conference League, Football, Jose Mourinho, Leicester City, AS Roma
Tom Wood