Mourinho not bothered about legendary status after leading Roma to another European final

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By Martin Graham | 20th May 2023

Jose Mourinho has insisted that he is not bothered about the idea of seeing his stock rise with Roma, after leading the Italian side to the Europa League final, the club’s second consecutive final in a row.

The Special One has now led the Giallorossi to yet another European final, having won the inaugural edition of the Conference League at the hands of Feyenoord at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Mourinho has now won all four European competitions as a manager and despite the possibility of adding to his pedigree, he says he is not bothered about that in the slightest.

Mourinho not bothered about history

“My concern isn’t marking my place in the Roma history books,” he told Sky Sport after Roma advanced to the final at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen.

“It’s helping these kids to grow, to achieve important things,” he explained. “It’s also helping the Roma fans who have given me so much since day one. It’s an immense joy to get to another final.”

Mourinho also thanked his players and described his side’s “tactical strength” as one of the key factors in their recent European success.

The win was “In the small details,” according to Mourinho. “If we don’t have Smalling on the bench, maybe we don’t win this game.” he continued.

“We lost Spinazzola and then Celik, if we didn’t have him at that moment it would have been very difficult. The small details make the difference. We can also thank Bove, who played from out of position on the right-hand side.

“The boys give everything, this game is the result of our work, experience, tactical wisdom, and knowing how to stay in matches. It’s an incredible team.”

Mourinho also thanked the Roma fans, but asked for one more favour heading back into Serie A action in a few days’ time.

He said: “If I can ask the Roma fans for more, these guys deserve something special on Monday, starting from training at Trigoria going into the match.

“Three finalists is a good thing for Italian football . Sevilla and Juventus are two very strong teams, but my concern wasn’t to draw one of the two, but getting there first. It will be very difficult for us.”

Roma will now take on Sevilla in the Europa League final, where one team must give away.

Sevilla have won all six of their previous Europa League finals. José Mourinho has won all five of his previous European finals. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object but one team must give away.