Europa League, Mourinho: “Roma deserve this final”

José Mourinho repeats it like a litany: “We are here”. We. Him and his boys. Him and the fans. Him and Dybala, who – as he says as he leaves the conference at the Puskas Arena – “has 20-30 minutes”. He and the people he wants at all costs to give the joy of a historic victory. On the eve of the Europa League final between Rome and Sevilla, the Portuguese coach does nothing but reiterate the merits of his team: “Roma deserved this goal, the journey was long, different from that of our opponent who comes from the Champions League. We played 14 games to get here, without a doubt we deserve it.”

AT WORK

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A lot of effort and a lot of waiting can also mean a lot of pressure, which for Mou is managed “by working, even if we have only really been able to do it in the last few days, given that we come from months of the league, cups, injuries and travel”. But what matters is that “we want to play this final. We’ve been saying it for a long time and now it’s finally coming. We worked to be in a position to be able to fight for this title”.

BETWEEN HISTORY AND MERIT

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Mourinho said that history doesn’t win finals. Now he broadens the concept: “The Sevilla coach, Mendilibar, thinks differently. He believes his team are favorites because history makes them favourites. I respect that but I don’t agree. We are here because we deserved it. It’s true, they have history and experience that we don’t have. For them a European final is almost normal, for us an extraordinary event, as well as for our fans for whom it is something unforgettable. But tomorrow, when the match starts, there won’t be a story, we’ll just be there.” He then adds: “Sevilla are a great team, actually two great teams given that they have 25-26 top-level players who offer many options. After all, their budget is not ours. However, it must be said that they don’t know my boys and they don’t know my team as a team. We are here”.

THE FUTURE

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We then talk about the Nerazzurri treble and the accompanying farewell. Could it happen again? This time the technician adds something new: “The future? Ask Mendilibar, since he has no contract and is in a more complex situation than mine… As for me, it’s between me and the team, they know what I think. I spoke to my two captains and they asked me something similar. I answered them objectively, they know what I want. It’s different than Inter because at the time I hadn’t signed with Real yet but it was all done. Now I have zero contact with other clubs. I think about tomorrow and what we want to do, because we want to play. We are here”.