Mourinho: “A great match where we were better than Feyenoord”

La Roma vola in semifinale di Europa League! Mister Mourinho ha commentato così il trionfo giallorosso!

Roma are heading to the Europa League semi-finals! Coach Jose Mourinho shared his joy after a successful evening!

Did this evening prove to you what a great team you have?

“I think so, yes. Perhaps someone might disagree. However, I think the team played brilliantly. It was a difficult game to play, a difficult one to manage. The question over whether Paolo Dybala would play or not did not help with preparing for the game. Gini Wijnaldum’s injury also didn’t help us manage a game like this because it meant I had one fewer substitution available to make. I knew that if I put Paulo on the pitch, I needed to save one substitution just in case he couldn’t continue.

“It was very, very difficult to manage, but the lads showed great concentration, courage and intelligence to calm things down or push hard when they needed to. They played really well against a great side. However, we were the better team tonight.”

On nights like this, you can see what it means to have someone like you on the bench.

“You can see it because I have lots of grey hair, while the Feyenoord coach Arne Slot is bald! I’ve got lots of grey hair, and I don’t know, 150 European matches under my belt. I’ve seen everything. I said to the players yesterday that today would be different, that it wouldn’t be like against Salzburg or Bodo/Glimt, that we wouldn’t kill the game off right away. I said that a 1-0 scoreline after 90 minutes would be perfect and the most important thing was to keep our heads and stay calm.

“Then, alongside my team, with Salvatore Foti, Michele Salzarulo and our analysts, we handled what was a difficult game to manage, because having to substitute Wijnaldum caused me great difficulties. When I brought Dybala on, I needed to make two changes at the same time, because the third substitution window was for taking Dybala off again if he was injured. After that, we waited for extra-time, giving me another window, and it went well. It’s a way of managing the game, but I’m not the one playing. They’re the ones who play, who run, who give everything. I’m really, really pleased for the boys.”

We’ve got a Sky studio full of stars. I expect they’ve got some interesting stories.

Abbiamo uno studio Sky pieno di campioni, immagino che abbiano delle curiosità.

“Is Antonio Cassano not there?!”

How proud are you of what you’re doing at Roma, where you’ve created this sense of identity and unity?

“Obviously, I’ve got enough experience to understand the work I’m doing. There’s balance. As I said some time ago, I’m at a stage in my career where the players are more important, the fans are important. I come last. What I’m trying to do is bring joy to the fans and give the lads the tools to grow and improve. I’m proud of this. I think that today, regardless of whether we won or not, I’m sure that on account of what we did, the fans would have gone home upset had we lost but happy with the team that we are, for what we do out there on the pitch.

“We have our limits, but we always give our all. Paolo was a doubt right until the last minute, there was commitment, Gini and Chris Smalling got injured, substitutes came on, the players responded. I am never angry with them, even when they lose or don’t play well. The team are truly a family. They have their limits but I’m with them. Now we need to rest and look ahead calmly to the match in Bergamo, which is our next game. We must forget about the Europa League.”

I think Dybala had lost a bit of confidence. Do you agree? And if so, how did you manage to help him regain it? He’s having a fantastic season with you.

“Alessandro [Del Piero], you’d know better than me what the situation was like with him last year at Juventus. My thoughts are that he was searching not just for confidence but for the joy he’d lost. And that’s what he found here. He came into a nice group, with a coach who understands him, a crowd that adore him, a place where, alongside other players with great character, like Lorenzo Pellegrini, Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini, he found the leadership to match his quality and personality. He’s a good lad, as you well know. It’s to do with all that.

“He will certainly feel that he has the qualities to play for the best teams in the world and he is right, but maybe here he’s found a place with great joy and love. You can also see that out on the pitch. He took a risk. I’d given him complete freedom to come on and then come back off two minutes later. I gave him that protection. I said to him: “Go on, try, see how it feels, see whether the adrenaline helps and if you need to come off, then come off.” In the end, he played 25 minutes plus extra-time and it seems like he was feeling good at the end.”