Mourinho keen to see side test themselves against Juventus

Jose Mourinho faced the media on Friday afternoon to preview Roma's upcoming match against Juventus.

The game in Turin gets underway at 18:30 CEST on Saturday evening.

With Paulo Dybala set to face his former side for the first time, here's everything his boss had to say about the contest...

How are your side looking going into this big game against Juventus? Apart from the absences of Nicolo Zaniolo and Georginio Wijnaldum, how are the players doing? And can you also give us your thoughts on the Europa League group stage draw…

“Let’s do the easy stuff first. The team tomorrow is the same [as last time], except with Nemanja Matic replacing Nicolo Zaniolo.

“We go into this one with six points from the first two games, which is something really positive and encouraging for us. But, as you’ve said, we also have the situations with Zaniolo and Wijnaldum to deal with; two important players for us who also change the options we have throughout the course of a match. It’s one thing to have a squad with different options to use, it’s another to have a squad with fewer of them.

“We are talking about a big game in the context of the league. You can tell we are playing against Juventus: before the games against Salernitana and Cremonese you didn’t ask me any questions about the matches itself, whereas here the first one is about Juventus. It’s true, it’s a big game against a big side, one that wants to win the title. But it is also one game in 38. For me, playing in Turin or tomorrow or playing there in week 37 means the same thing.

“It’s a good game to play in. It all depends on your perspective. Playing a big side always gives you a lot of motivation, but it’s also always going to be very tough. We will try and approach it in a balanced fashion. It’s going to be difficult, yes, but it’s also a great match to play in and we want to show what we can do.

“As for the Europa League, it’s definitely a tough competition and one where there a few sides for whom not winning it would be something of a disaster, considering their financial might, their history as clubs and everything else. We will just take things step-by-step; we are talking about a group that will not be easy.

“Real Betis won the Spanish Cup, they have a great coach, they are a side that plays good football and finished fifth last season. They are a good side. I faced Ludogorets a few years ago and that is not an easy game either; they pretty much always win the Bulgarian league and have some very good foreign players.

“I don’t know Helsinki that well, but the way teams from northern Europe are improving and strengthening should be clear to everyone. Midtjylland, Bodo, Copenhagen ... If you look at those sides, compared to a few years ago, the progress is clear.

"It will be the first time I go to Finland for a game. I’ll be going with pleasure, with respect and with curiosity too. Unfortunately we will be playing on another plastic pitch over there, but let’s see if we get drawn to play that match at the start of the group or in November. In November it would be doubly tough.”

Is this a game that you approach differently to others? In the past you’ve mentioned that you get a bit of a different reception from the fans there…

“It’s sport, I don’t want to give that side of things more weight than it has. For me it’s another away trip and nothing really changes. Same preparation, same routine, same things I do or don’t do. Nothing changes.

“We are playing against a top side and that means motivation is at the top as well. I’ve gone to Turin to play Juventus a number of times with Inter, Roma and Manchester United. It’s another one to add to that. It won’t have any connection with what’s happened in the past or the future either. It’s another game.”

What advice are going to give to Paulo Dybala?

“None. These things depend on the personality of the individual involved. For some players going back to play at an old club doesn’t mean much, for others it’s very tough – and for even more it can be a bit of both. For Paulo, I don’t know. He has a baby face but he is not a baby. He has lots of experience.

“We talk only about how we want to play, what we want from him out on the pitch – but how he controls his emotions is down to him. From the outside – looking at the way he has trained these past few days – I haven’t noticed anything different. So I expect the same as every from him, perhaps just with a bit more emotion attached to it all before and after. But, on the pitch, the same.”

What sort of form is Dybala in at the moment? Roma have a bad record at Juventus, do you think that brings a certain mental block?

“First and foremost I think each game is its own thing. This match does not have any connection to the last meeting, just as it won’t to the next one after. What has happened in the past, or what could happen in the future, you can’t let yourself get wrapped up in that. In terms of the mental side of things, what can we do? All we can do is prepare the team as best as we possible can. We will try to put in the sort of performance we expect. That’s what we will try to get across to the players. Normality.

“That’s what it needs to be. We go there to play against a good side, but we go there calmly, with confidence. We’ve come on a lot since we’ve been together. We’ve trained hard, we’ve done as well as we can considering the calendar this week, we know how we want to approach it and we’ve known for two days who is going to be playing. We will go there to try and win. Nothing changes.

“Dybala is doing well, in my opinion. I didn’t expect more from him right now. Over the last two years he’s had a few injuries, he has struggled to put a long stretch of games together, and this summer he didn’t start pre-season with everyone else. So he was working with a personal trainer, arriving later, but all things considered he’s doing great.

“Perhaps he still does not have 90 minutes in him, because playing on that Olimpico pitch is really tough – it’s a bit like trying to run on the sandy Portuguese beaches. It’s tough. But overall he’s doing well, he’s working hard, he’s helping the team out. I could not be happier with him and I did not expect any more from him at this stage.”

Saturday’s game sees two sides that are yet to concede a goal face off. Is this a game for great attackers or great defenders?

“The game of football continues to get this wrong. You always talk about “a great defensive side” rather than “a great team”. The teams that concede few goals are not sides that defend really well – they are just good sides. The best sides. Now, let’s not take that too far, because it’s only two games and the fact these two sides have not conceded yet does not suddenly mean us and Juve are perfect.

"It doesn’t mean tomorrow we will both be perfect, even if it finishes 0-0. Maybe it will finish 4-4. But the idea that a team is balanced and doesn’t concede much should be synonymous with the idea of what makes a good side.”

Do you already know how Roma will approach this game?

“Last year my team went there, we played to win, we lost - but we played well. I was not pleased with the result but I was pleased with the attitude. Today, almost a year on from that, I expect something better again. In terms of the approach at least.

"Maybe we end up losing, but if you say to me that I can have a point without even travelling up there, I don’t want that. We want to go there and play, try to win. If we lose, we lose. But we want to go there trying to win.”

If the team gets a penalty tomorrow, who will take it? And will Felix Afena-Gyan be in the squad?

“For the game tomorrow yes, we have already decided. For the rest of the season, no. It depends on the week, it depends on how we’ve been doing and what the analysis of our penalty takers is from the way they are training. For tomorrow, we know [who it is].

“I am not going to say now, because then the Juventus goalkeepers can go and focus their research on one, whereas now they think it could be four or five different players. You think because they know him so well Dybala won’t be a taker? Maybe he takes them differently now though…

“Felix will not be in the squad. There is a strong possibility that he will be involved in a transfer. For that reason we don’t want to take any risks, and he wouldn’t be mentally in the right place to take any risks either. So that’s why tomorrow he will not be involved.”

Tomorrow Irrati will be the referee. Do you have anything to say about the referee?

“After each game I feel free to talk about the officiating. Before the game, however, that’s not something I like to do. My starting principle is that all referees are good and they go out there to officiate the game as best as they can. That’s my principle. I don’t like to make premature judgements based on past events.

“Before the game I’m positive about everyone. Then, at the end of the game, I will either be happy to say they were great - or a little less happy to say they were rubbish.”