Jose Mourinho responds in trademark fashion with passionate rant after Lazio defeat

Roma manager Jose Mourinho responded to criticism of him in trademark fashion after a 1-0 defeat to fierce rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia.

The game ended in explosive fashion, with three red cards being dished out in injury time.

Sardar Azmoun was sent off for Roma, while former Chelsea winger Pedro received two yellow cards in under a minute for Lazio.

And to make matters worse for Mourinho, centre-back Gianluca Mancini was shown a straight red card after the final whistle.

There have been some question marks over the Portuguese boss from sections of the Italian press, with Roma having won two of their last six matches.

They are currently eighth in Serie A, but are only four points off the Champions League spots and are in the Europa League play-off round.

Mourinho won the Europa Conference League with I Giallorossi, and guided them to the Europa League final last season.

And he hit back at the critics in trademark fashion during his latest press conference ahead of the side's upcoming fixture against AC Milan.

As soon as he entered the room, and before even taking a question from journalists, he stated (via TMW): "I've been here for two years and five months, and I'm the only person here who hasn't missed a single training session in that time.

"For me, there are no illnesses or bad moods. For two and a half years, I haven't done anything wrong, not even a couple of weeks ago when everyone was sick.

"A few months ago, I needed a day for a situation that I don't have to explain. I told the [sporting director, Tiago] Pinto and the ownership, and we decided that the day after the derby would be a good day.

"I was away from Rome for 15 hours. It seems ridiculous to me to justify this.

"I do not accept in any way that my professional and dignity, my heart for this job, can be questioned. If there is a perfect example of professionalism, it is me. I have never missed one match in over 20 years of my career."