The head coach of Roma, Jose Mourinho, claimed he wasn’t fixated on becoming the club’s legend after taking them to back-to-back European club competition final for the first time in their history.
On Thursday night, Jose Mourinho knocked out Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 on aggregate after beating the German team 1-0 in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final and forcing them to a goalless draw in the second leg. That was enough to take Roma to their first Europa League final.
The 60-year-old Portuguese tactician won the second-tier European club competition when he was the coach of Manchester United in 2017 and helped Roma win the Europa Conference League in 2022.
After leading Roma to the Europa League final on Thursday, Mourinho expressed his gratitude to the Roma faithful for their great support throughout the Europa League campaign.
He also requested their continued support when his team face Salernitana at home on Monday as they resume their Serie A campaign.
“My concern isn’t marking my place in the Roma history books,” Mourinho told reporters on Thursday.
“It’s helping these kids (players) to grow, to achieve important things. It’s also helping the Roma fans who have given me so much since day one. It’s an immense joy to get to another final.
“The boys give everything, this game is the result of our work, experience, tactical wisdom, and knowing how to stay in matches. It’s an incredible team.
The Portuguese tactician added, “I don’t know if I can ask anything more from the fans, but these boys deserve something special on Monday when we will depart Trigoria (training ground).”
On the other hand, Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini said Mourinho should receive sole credit for the team’s triumph.
“He’s different, he makes you realize the importance of the match. We came here and everyone knew what they had to do”, the captain said.
“We study, we organize ourselves, we watch videos. Especially in Europe, you can see what the coach brings us. Mourinho is the creator of this personality of ours.”
Roma are currently sitting sixth on the Serie A table with 59 points, six points behind 3rd placed Lazio and two points behind 4th placed AC Milan as the battle for a Champions League qualification continues ahead of next season.
