Mourinho warns Roma: “I want to stay, but the players and I deserve more”

SENT TO BUDAPEST. This time fate has thrown the worst possible tricks on him. José Mourinho is bitter after losing his first European final due to an own goal and the penalty missed by his defender-captain Mancini, but at the same time he doesn’t hide his pride in the team that has long been applauded by the nearly 25,000 fans present in Budapest . He thanked them in the group circle, immediately after the bitter ending, and then publicly praised them. «You can lose matches – says the Roma coach -, but never dignity. I won 5 finals and I didn’t go home prouder than tonight: happier yes, but not prouder. I said “Either cup or death”: we are physically and mentally dead. We worked a lot, even on penalties and then we missed them all: because those who shoot alone don’t shoot alone. We got two wrong and then they decided to finish it early.”

The reference to Montel’s penalty, first saved and then valid after the intervention of the Var, is just one of the pebbles that Mourinho removes from his shoe. In the viewfinder is the English referee Taylor, who has done all sorts of things. «We’re used to these things – smiles the Special One – but having an arbitration like this in a European final is really tough. I’m only talking about the little things: Lamela deserved a second yellow card for the foul on Ibanez and instead he scored one of the penalties, while he cautioned everyone here: he looked Spanish and I hope he continues to do shit only in the Champions League, where we won’t be there”. After the match Mourinho had a long discussion with Roberto Rosetti, the UEFA referee designator, and asked for an explanation of the missed penalty (handball by Fernando on Matic’s cross) categorizing everything as a “shame”.

It was a very long final, with a record 146 minutes on the pitch between overtime and added time, as well as angular and tough. Mourinho was the first to leave the awards ceremony, giving the silver medal to a Roma fan after quickly shaking hands with Giallorossi vice president Ryan Friedkin on the podium, and then spoke about his future in the Giallorossi. «I’m going on vacation on Monday and I want to stay – he says, but my players deserve more and I deserve more too. I want to fight for the most, I’m tired of being a coach, of being a man of communication and of being the face that says “We have been robbed”. I’m tired of being so much, but I want to stay with the conditions to give more. We won’t play in the Champions League next season and that’s good news, because we’re not a Champions League team yet.”

The situation will be addressed in the next few days (“Now is the time to talk to the owners”), but José Mourinho doesn’t say too much. He still has a year on his contract and there are no teams that have looked for him, while the move from Rome can wait (“All my things are still in Trigoria”) after having put himself to the window. It is difficult to understand whether Dybala’s future will also depend on his choices: “He is a Roma player and not mine”, remarked the Portuguese coach who tried to console Joya after the defeat on penalties. “Crying is a way to react – he explains -: I cry when I win, for example. The boys have given everything and if they are sad it is a good sign, because it means they feel defeated and they care. The defeat makes me suffer like never before and therefore we have to do better next year».