Mourinho fires up the fans ahead of Olimpico spectacle

Here's everything Jose Mourinho had to say ahead of Thursday's Europa Conference League showdown against Leicester City at the Stadio Olimpico.

The match, the second leg of the semi-final between the two sides, gets underway at 21:00 CEST.

The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw, with the winner on Thursday night heading to the final in Albania at the end of the month.

Here's how Mourinho is feeling heading into the game...

Leicester City have been focused on the Europa Conference League for a while now, and as a result come into this game having rested and rotated more players than Roma have done. How much of an impact do you think that will have?

“I hope it won’t have any. But the analysis you have made is obvious. I have found myself in the same situation before and, whenever you don’t have the chance to reach your targets in the league any more, then the focus becomes on European competition. Even if this is not ‘their’ competition, because they started in the Europa League, it’s the route they have into European competition again next season. So, that’s why it’s logical that they will rotate like they have done – resting players to be ready for this game.

“We have not been able to do that: we are still able to qualify for Europe through the league and we can’t just disregard that opportunity, we need to do everything we can to achieve it. But I hope tomorrow that the emotion of the occasion will really fire my players up – and that it will help them to go out and win the game.”

How do you replace a player like Henrikh Mkhitaryan?

“We do not have another player like Mkhitaryan. There are top sides out there who have two players for every position and there are sides that can rotate perfectly as a result. And there are other clubs where they struggle when they are without certain players.

“We don’t have another player like Mkhitaryan and I think that’s fairly obvious. So we can’t play the same way with different players. We will have to do things a bit differently but the target does not change: we want to reach the final, we want to give absolutely everything we have to give.

“I will never get tired of repeating that tomorrow will be our 14th game in the Conference League. We started the competition in Turkey and the most recent game was in England – we haven’t stopped, we’ve played Thursday and then Sunday for months with all the difficulties and problems which that brings.

“But we are here now and we are here as a team. Mkhitaryan won’t be there but others will be. We will go into the team as a group and fight to go through.”

You got a nice bottle of wine after the first leg in England. Brendan Rodgers said today that he would be happy with a simple cup of tea after tomorrow’s game. Is there any chance of you putting the kettle on for him?

“To be honest I bought him a very nice gift but, because he wants tea, I can keep the gift for me and I can give him tea. That’s no problem!”

Can you tell us what you think about Brendan Rodgers’ achievements at Leicester – winning the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history last season, and helping them break new ground?

“I can answer you on Brendan and on Leicester. What Leicester are doing is fantastic. Of course what they did by winning the Premier League was amazing, but after that the way the club grows at every level and now having one of the best training centres in Europe ... the club is amazing and congratuatlions to all of them.

“Brendan doesn’t surprise me. With Liverpool people forget what he did, with much less resources than Liverpool has now he did an amazing job. Then, the Scottish history, which people forget because people don’t focus as much on the Scottish Premier League. But then to win the FA Cup, and even the Community Shield, the stability around the club and the way they play and the recruitment.

"It’s a perfect fit, Leicester and Brendan. Very, very good. I just hope that tomorrow is for us and not for them.”

What are your feelings ahead of such an important game?

“There’s no doubt that we’ve built a bond between ourselves and the fans. We have been together for more or less 10 months now, in the good moments and the bad. But we’ve stayed together, with a real spirit between us.

“We are now reaching a point where we have two more home games left this season – tomorrow will be the last one in the Conference League, and next weekend we will play Venezia in our last home league match. Clearly it would be amazing to celebrate the bond we have, which has been built and maintained regardless of results, in the right way. We all deserve to finish this season in the best way possible.

“To the fans, I would just say that we are obviously playing for ourselves but we are especially playing for them. And I would really like it if the fans play their part in the game tomorrow with us.

“Because you can go to the stadium to watch, and you can go to the stadium to play. If we have 70,000 fans watching tomorrow, it doesn’t mean much. But if we have 70,000 fans who want to play, then it’s a different story.

“So that is what myself and the players are asking of the fans: don’t come to the stadium to watch the game, come to play.”

Kasper Schmeichel said this morning that he doesn’t want to finish fourth, fifth or sixth in the league as a success – it’s about winning things. For someone like yourself, who has won so much, how hungry are you to add another one to the list?

“To be honest, to be champion with Leicester wins more than three titles with Chelsea or Liverpool or Manchester United. So he should be happy that he won that very, very, very special title.

“Jokes apart, of course he wants to win. Especially because it is the only way they can reach European competition next season. So it is obvious that a club of Leicester’s dimensions and history in the last decade will want to be playing in Europe, and the only way they can play in Europe the next season is by winning this competition. So, they are normal words from a guy who represents well what Leicester have been for the next season.”

How hungry are you, though, to win this competition?

“It’s the same for me. I always say, there is only one match I have not won – and that’s the next one. I haven’t won the next match yet. I always want to win the next one. If the next one is a semi-final, then even more so, because of course a semi-final gives you the right to play a final … if you are not sacked before the final! But it gives you that right, so of course it is not just the next match, it is a special match. We want to win.

“It’s been a long, long run for us – a different run for us as Leicester had a Europa League run. Our run has been Conference since Day 1, against Trabzonspor, and 14 matches later we have the chance to play the final. We have to do everything we can to play at the highest level we can to deserve to be in the final.”

Congratulations – one year since you were announced as the new Roma head coach. This feels like the right job and project for you and it feels like you are enjoying it...

“I am enjoying it. I am enjoying it very much. I am happy every day that I come to the training ground and that is something I cannot deny. Do I want more? Yes, I want more. Do I want to be able to think bigger next season? Yes, I want to be able to think bigger. But I knew the project, I knew the nature of it, and I’m loving to share it every day with my players and the people in the club. I am with them and I try to give everything I have and I love to work with them.

I think the work has been so hard for every one of us that I think we deserve to end the season with something to celebrate. Of course, a trophy would be amazing. Of course, to finish in a position that allows us to play European competition next season would also be a positive thing. But we are giving everything we have, every single one of us.

"Tomorrow is just one big step, and I don’t forget or deny that it is against a very, very good team – but we are a good team too.”

Can I ask what gift you got Brendan Rodgers – that he is now not going to get?

“He doesn’t know what it is, he just asked for tea so he will get tea. If he wants tea he will have tea. I will keep the gift for myself!”

As far as Mkhitaryan’s replacement goes, it would seem Sergio Oliveira and Jordan Veretout are the two contenders – even if they are both very different players. What shape are both of those players in ahead of this game?

“There is not one player who has the same characteristics as Mkhitaryan to take his place. We don’t have one. You know what we have and, as you’ve said, they are very different players to Mkhitaryan. But there is not much we can day.

“But we play as a team and we will try to be a team and to hide the issues we have – because we are not a perfect side – and then also go out and try to exploit the little issues, the weaknesses, that our really good opponents have. But we will play as a team.

“Sergio and Jordan, as with all the other players, are in condition to give everything they have for the cause. Tomorrow it’s very possible we can win – but only if we are all at our very best. And I am convinced that both Sergio and Veretout and anyone else who could be called upon can help us.”

What sort of game are you expecting tactically?

“It’s always difficult to say what sort of game it will be. A lot of the time you want a certain type of game and then it develops into something different. I wouldn’t mind one like the first leg in Leicester, where Rui Patricio had one save to make in 90 minutes. That would mean we have not had great problems to deal with and that would be really important for us.

“The fans can help us, if they want to play their part. But as a team we need to have the maturity and the intelligence to play the right way and manage things in the most rational way possible. That’s going to be important for us.”

How are the owners feeling heading into this game? Have you discussed it much?

“No, we have not exchanged thoughts about it all. I think the president and his sons already know me pretty well. And they know that before the game my life is with my staff and my players and that I don’t like to have to share myself with other people. I don’t even like to do this press conference with you! I am here because I have to be.

“I know them well too, though. And it’s easy to understand that, beyond being in love with the club and the fans, they are also in love with football. And people who love football experience these moments with a certain … well, you know what it is like in football when the big moments come.

“That’s why, on their part they are giving us the respect of our privacy and focus as a team. But clearly they are very happy to be playing a European semi-final at home, with a full stadium – it’s a moment of great joy and great anticipation. We will go there together and, if our fans want to play too, then that could make all the difference.”