The coach’s words after the next round: “Congratulations to the lads, credit to them. If a team from the Champions League wins the cup, it will be meaningless”
José Mourinho spoke to the microphones of Sky after the match against Real Sociedad. These are his words:
Not an easy challenge, but great spirit and attitude. “With the 2-0 Real risk everything and do everything possible to change history. They did very well with their crowd, with a fantastic supporter base. But the lads had everything, the initial ambition to score a goal. In the first 15-20 minutes we expected strong dominance from Real, instead it was the opposite and we dominated. There was a ball that it seems impossible to me not to have entered, that of Dybala, but this gave us confidence . Then we had to control defensively and go on the counterattack. Every minute we were closer, but you must never stop trying to score. Abraham and El Shaarawy came in for this. Congratulations to the boys, credit to them. It’s a great Europa League, “We eliminated two quality opponents and we’re in the quarter-finals together with top-level teams. I also thank the public who came here, they were with us suffering in the cage.”
You are now going even further than winning the Conference League. Real are fourth in La Liga and have not scored any goals. “The work belongs to the boys, I help and make a small contribution. But it’s them as a group. We already know that we have those difficulties, Matic’s problem is a difficult situation, Wijnaldum who hasn’t played for six months and plays 90 minutes for two games in a row. We return to Rome tired, but happy and proud of what the boys have done”.
Belotti and Pellegrini also came from two injuries. “Yes, this kind of courage is needed. One who had surgery on his hand a few days ago, the other with 30 points in his head. They are spectacular guys, that’s why I’m with them even in the negative moments. We’re not the strongest in the world, but we are a good group that wants to be together”.
The draw? “I don’t care. There are teams that shouldn’t have been there. A team eliminated from a competition has to go home. I understand the rules. If a team from the Champions League wins the cup, it will be meaningless. The Europa League is made for we who started from day one. Lazio won’t have a third European competition, will they?”
Can you be satisfied? “We started well, I told the players that we had to score. It’s difficult to play in the 90th minute defending the result, we tried to start strong but we didn’t find the goal. In the second half we needed fresh people to support the result and still look for the goals. The boys did a great job and the quarterfinals are a great result”.
Is it a game that loads or have you spent energy? “Both things, we go home happy, but with a little tiredness”.
How important is a good draw? “With Juve coming from the Champions League, with the others coming from the Champions League and with teams like United, we’ll do our best. We’ve done well so far and it’s not the time to think about the draw.”
“We wanted to come in strong and pass. We had to lower the attention of the stadium and to do that you can either score or show calmness and control and we did this. Unfortunately, we didn’t score. We had the great opportunity from Paulo after Smalling’s disallowed goal The stadium felt it was difficult for them and we became more and more relaxed. It was a tremendous effort for the boys who put in a great performance both individually and collectively. We are also very happy for the Roman fans who have traveled this far. Beautiful stadium, quality team, a beautiful European evening.”
You haven’t even conceded a goal, it’s a good sign… “When we play as a team and defend as a team, it’s not easy to score for the opponents. Today, total concentration and collective spirit. Everyone participated and did their job. A really great performance from the boys.”
March 16, 2023 (change March 17, 2023 | 00:46)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED