Mourinho: “We won with incredible team spirit"

We saw you speaking to the team at the end. What did you say to the lads?

“Congratulations to everyone who won the game and that went for all of them. Every single one of them. I think only [Paulo] Dybala and [Ebrima] Darboe were missing along with Tammy [Abraham], who went to hospital. Everyone who won was there. They won with incredible team spirit and a willingness to sacrifice themselves, while playing really well against Verona, whose style of play makes it very difficult to build the play against them.

“It was a win that the lads fully deserved. They all made big sacrifices. Five or six of them had played in Austria, [Rick] Karsdorp hadn’t played in over two months, [Leonardo] Spinazzola was coming back from injury, [Edoardo] Bove was playing on a synthetic pitch last year, [Andrea] Belotti hadn’t played in so long, having only featured in fits and starts in certain games, [Ola] Solbakken is learning about our tactics as a team and he was also in a difficult situation fitness-wise, [Stephan] El Shaarawy hadn’t played in back-to-back games and is now up to four or five, so he’s using up his resources, [Nicola] Zalewski has played at right wing-back, left wing-back and today in attack down the right. This team isn’t getting the plaudits that it deserves.”

Did the players that came in impress you? Belotti had a great game.

“He had a really great game. With all the hard work that he put in, he deserved a goal.”

He also deserved one against Salzburg.

“That’s right, but [Lorenzo] Montipo made an incredible save when the second goal would’ve put the game to bed. I couldn’t be happier with the players and the squad. I’m just sorry that people aren’t giving them credit for the hard work that we’re doing in very challenging circumstances. Either people don’t understand or they don’t want to understand. That’s why I’m so grateful to the players.”

Are you referring to the fans at the stadium? Today takes us up to 23 sell-outs at the Stadio Olimpico.

“It depends on the sort of sell-out. If it’s like the Bodo game, the stadium can win the game by itself. If it’s a sell-out like today… It’s really a shame that when a youngster loses the ball after an extraordinary game, he gets three or four boos.

“People don’t understand the magnitude of what we’re doing. I was saying to Roma TV that when people look at our right-back, there’s no Maicon. As a Roma fan, I’d be singing Bove’s praises every day because he’s more of a fan than they are. When I arrived, he was one step away from a move to a Serie C club and now he’s a starter for Roma.

“Of course, the media doesn’t help because everyone else is phenomenal and we either win because we’re lucky or we’ve scored from a set piece. I’m getting on a bit, I’m 60 now and I don’t need to be buttered up, but the lads do. They’re the ones who won today with a bit of help from the Curva. Everyone else can go home pleased. I’m nobody to criticise. They’re the ones who need to criticise me because I’m the coach. I apologise for my position because it’s not just being a coach. I have to protect my players, who deserve more.”