Mourinho on final approach, fitness updates and more ahead of Feyenoord meeting

Shortly after landing in the Albanian capital on Tuesday afternoon, Jose Mourinho faced the assembled media in Tirana to preview his side's final game of the season.

After a 14-match adventure in the competition that has taken Roma from Turkey to Norway and Bulgaria to England, the Giallorossi will battle it out with Dutch side Feyenoord to be crowned the inaugural winners of the new UEFA competition.

Here is everything Mourinho had to say...

It’s been a long journey to this point. What’s the feeling heading into this game?

“In the end, we’ve finished off a journey this season with two finals in the space of four days. The first of those [against Torino] was capable of giving us what we deserved and what we targeted from the first day, which is to play in the Europa League next season and to improve our finish in Serie A. We were able to win that game.

“For me, it was a final where we weren’t going to make any history – but we could finish the hard work of a season and reach our target. Nevertheless for Roma, qualifying for the Europa League is something pretty normal.

“This final, however, is all about history. It’s history that we’ve already written, by getting to this point, into a final after so many years. But, obviously, whenever you reach a final you have to give everything you can to write true history. And that means to win.”

Have you been able to keep the excitement of the squad in check? How are they doing mentally, and how is Henrikh Mkhitaryan looking?

“We did that before the game against Torino. That was a tough match and it was important to focus on it fully. It was important that we were aware that playing a final is already a tense occasion even without double cause for nerves – which would have been the case if we were coming here for the trophy and for our European place next season.

“But we did that, we qualified and we reached our target – and that’s the best way to now focus on this final.

“Myself and my staff have been together at Trigoria since Friday evening. We never left, we haven’t been home. We stayed there. Obviously I could not ask that of my players too. But I think they are all doing well. They seem focused, with the right amount of tension and excitement … because you should be excited to play in a game like this. We’re in good shape.

“Mkhitaryan trained today with the rest of the squad for the first time. It was a light session, without any real significance in terms of our work for the final, because it was open to the media. I won’t say that it was ‘fake’, but it was a basic session. But for him, it was nevertheless important for him to get the sensation of whether it is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

“I have a lot of trust in his experience, which he has so much of – and he knows his body well and knows what to make of the different feelings. At the end of training he told me that he felt good and available to play.”

You will have noticed the attention around this game, both for Roma and for the fans. Your experience, charisma and leadership … could you be the one to make the difference?

“I don’t think so. First of all, I think people get the analysis wrong. I think the only reason this pro-Roma feeling exists is because we have an Albanian player [Marash Kumbulla]. To me, that makes sense.

“If Roma wins, an Albanian will lift the trophy. And that means something. I played a European Super Cup in Macedonia North [Manchester United against Real Madrid] and it was amazing; a country and a city partying, with a unique chance to see such a game. And it’s the same here in Tirana. We’ve arrived here and it’s immediately very easy to understand how important the occasion is for them. It’s a moment they deserve as a country.

“The stadium is really nice, even if it is a shame that its capacity isn’t enough to host every fan and their joy. But I’m still happy to be playing here.

“I don’t think my charisma will make the difference. Finals are usually the last games of the season. European finals are almost always the last game of a season. And when you get to the last game of the season, all the work is already done. Especially considering we played last Friday as well, there’s nothing we can really do in the last two or three days. Leadership isn’t something you can put on the table to have an effect for two or three days. It’s all part of the overall process.

“Tomorrow is a day for the players; us coaches are on the sidelines. We will try to help them, to read the contest and help the team. But the work has already been done. Tomorrow is the last game, which fortunately is a final. I say fortunately because whenever you reach a final you have to be happy to be there and play it with the right attitude.”

Your serious demeanour right is because it’s a final tomorrow?

“It is a final tomorrow. Until then, there is nothing else in my mind. It’s just about the final. That’s the only way I know how to be. Experience doesn’t help me with that. I thought it might do, but it hasn’t been like that. I still experience it all the same way as my first final; 20 years has not changed anything. If you think I am a bit more serious, maybe it’s just focus – maybe it’s just my way of preparing for the game. That’s all I’m thinking about.”

Are you a superstititious coach?

“No, no, no. No I’m not. I think I’m probably one of the few people in football who isn’t. I’ve had a few arguments with people who are.”

So you don’t have any thoughts about the prospect of 50,000 fans watching the game on big screens at the Stadio Olimpico. Because, historically-speaking, this sort of thing hasn’t usually gone well for Roma…

“No, no. The support and passion of the fans can only help us, it can never hurt. If Roma have lost a final or two with people watching at the Olimpico on big screens, obviously it was not in any way their fault.

“It’s not about superstition for me. To give you another insight: they asked me what shirt we will play in tomorrow; this season’s kit or next season’s. I said that I don’t want to know. It’s the same for me. I don’t feel any superstition.”

How is your ankle after the incident with Marash Kumbulla … and what sort of future do you think he has? And, also, if you win tomorrow you will become the first coach to ever win all three European trophies…

“If I win..”

If you win. See, you aren’t superstitious…

“I’m not superstitious, it’s the truth! I don’t like to talk about ‘ifs’. Let’s see. As far as Marash goes, he really hurt me. Really hurt me. I joked that of all the players that could have caught me, he would have been the last one I would have wanted, because he’s the heaviest of them.

“I thought I would have to go to games in flip-flops, with a boot on or something, because my foot wouldn’t fit my shoes. But Marash is a good lad and a good player. He has learned a lot this season and next year he will 100% be with us, because he has the potential to get even better.”

Why do you think Dutch sides don’t win major finals?

“It’s not true. Ajax have won finals, PSV Eindhoven have won the Champions League. Feyenoord have won European trophies. Dutch football has extraordinary history.”

What are your first impressions of Albania? People have asked me if the Special One will win a special match tomorrow…

“This story of ‘The Special One’ is old. It’s something from the early years of my career. And when you are more mature, when you have more substance, you think much more about other people and much less about yourself. So for me this ‘Special One’ stuff is old news.

“Tomorrow I can do what any coach can, which is try and help the team. I don’t believe in magic potions or magic moments. When you reach a final, after almost a year, then the work has been done. Now it’s about the team, the players who will play tomorrow. The team, me, the stuff: it’s our moment, it’s not one person’s moment.

“We don’t have to do anything special, tomorrow we just have to be ourselves. We have to be a team, knowing what we do well and what our limits are. You can become a good team if you are able to hide a few problems that any team runs into. And we have had a few.

“It’s the first time I’ve been to Albania. It’s one of the few European countries I had never visited before, because football has taken me almost everywhere else but here. I am pleased to be finally coming here.

“I haven’t seen the city, but I’m pleased with the airport – because, for example, when we played Vitesse we were stuck in the airport in Vitesse for two hours. I don’t know why.

“The pitch looks good and the stadium is really nice. I think maybe it has been criticised because it can’t hold 50,000 or 60,000 fans. But you can’t criticise the idea of bringing football around the continent, to emerging countries. So I am pleased to be here and to be playing an Albanian final – if we can call it that.”

Nicola Zalewski had a bad start to the season – are you surprised with how he has performed in the second half? What qualities of his are most impressive, do you think?

“I don’t agree with you when you say that he had a bad start to the season. I think that was perhaps the most important period of his career. The reality is one year ago he was playing for the Primavera and now he is in the first team. Those six months were really important for his career.

“He can play anyway, to be honest. Whether that is a good thing or not; well, different people have different opinions. My feelings are that when you are 20 years old and you have the chance to play, it doesn’t really matter where it is on the pitch – you just need to go out and play. He’s a good student and a good lad. He has a great future in front of him, both for himself and the national team.”

However the final ends up going, has this been a positive season in your opinion?

“For me, yes. For me it has been a positive season.”

Do you still have any doubts over your team tomorrow? Does Spinazzola have a real chance of being involved, or was his recent involvement just a reward for his work to recovery from injury?

“No, it wasn’t any sort of reward – he is a player that is available tomorrow. He was out for 10 months, that’s a lot. But he’s worked really hard to return to action.

“He needed that time on the pitch, the feelings of being involved again. He really needed what he got against Torino; 75 minutes on the pitch is different to the six or seven he had against Fiorentina. Those feelings against Torino were positive and tomorrow he is an option for us.”