José Mourinho came to Finland to win

José Mourinho took his place alongside the suitmen. Antti Nikkanen

Jose Mourinho made a clear exception to AS Roma’s dress code.

Gianni Castaldi (press manager) and Claudio Bisceglia (the club’s interpreter) were decked out for the Bolt Arena press conference in identical dark suits with ties pulled extremely tight.

Mourinho stepped into the workers’ stadium in a blue hoodie with a white sweatshirt underneath. On his feet, The Special One was wearing Orange sneakers, true to his name.

– This is the second time in Finland, but only my first match here, the Portuguese started.

However, Mourinho’s relations with Helsinki are not limited to that, because he coached Johannes after learning his football skills from the field Mikael Forssell with the duo’s Chelsea match.

– I’m not here to get to know the country. This is a must-win for us so that we don’t have to think about what happens in the other matches, he shrewdly moved the talk to Thursday’s Europa League match.

– We know it’s not easy. Even the first encounter was difficult for us when we played 11 against, Mourinho pointed out Miro Tenhon out at the Stadio Olimpico in September.

The Portuguese praised his Klubi colleague Toni Koskelan already in Rome, and he didn’t spare any fancy words in Helsinki either.

– Of course, I have watched both of HJK’s home matches against Ludogorets and Betis, and they weren’t easy either. Ludogorets couldn’t win and Betis was lucky at the end of the opening period.

Sevilla’s winning goal came from a foul judged by VAR just moments before the break.

– We are not on vacation here. This is a crucial match for us because we want to stay in the Europa League.

Euro difficulties

This season, Roma have had special difficulties especially in Euro matches. In Serie A, the Giallorossi are still in a respectable fifth place, even though Napoli beat them away at the weekend.

On the other hand, in the Europa League, there are already two entries in the loss column, so the team practically has to win both HJK on Thursday and Ludogorets in the last round in order to get a place in the spring playoff rounds.

The story continues after the picture

Last year, Mourinho cursed the artificial turf to the lowest hell after the team lost to Norwegian Bodø/Glimt no less than 1-6. Now there is a new experience ahead with the exotic rubber grit platform.

– I don’t want to cry because it doesn’t help at all. But now that you ask, I think artificial turf means a different sport. It’s not football because it changes so much on a technical level.

– Naturally, HJK has an advantage because it is used to playing on artificial turf. Maybe that’s the reason why we don’t play in the stadium next door, Mourinho nodded towards the traditional Olympic Stadium.

In the end, Bodø/Glimtkin lost to Roma in last spring’s Conference League playoffs. That’s when the difference in level finally came to the fore on the natural grass of the Eternal City, from which the Norwegian team left with a 0-4 loss.

– We are not afraid of HJK, but we are ready for this match. I congratulated the head coach already after the first match, because the team was really well organized.

– In recent years, the Nordic teams have developed a lot. Even 20 years ago, very good individuals could come here, but not so many teams. Today they have a very clear identity and know what they want from the game.

Mourinho spent nearly 20 minutes in front of reporters. He didn’t want to dwell on the climate, conditions or playing platform, because AS Roma has only one task in Helsinki.

– Even if we play on sand, we have to win.