After AS Roma’s defeat to Feyenoord in the first leg of their Europa League quarterfinals on April 13, Jose Mourinho cut a frustrated figure, as he usually does after losing a game, doing the post-match press conference duties. The two teams had previously faced one other in the inaugural final of the Conference League last year, which Mourinho’s team won with a goal from Nicolo Zaniolo.
On Thursday, however, Roma had a bad night as Matts Wieffer’s goal in the second half proved to be the difference as Feyenoord won the first leg at home. To add to the disappointing result, Jose Mourinho also witnessed Paulo Dybala and Tammy Abraham leave the pitch with injuries after Lorenzo Pellegrini missed a penalty.
Jose Mourinho destroys Dutch journalist in post-match presser
Despite Roma losing 1-0 to Feyenoord in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday, Jose Mourinho was in his usual element. The Giallorossi won the maiden Conference League final previous season against the Dutch opponents, and this was the first time the two teams had faced off since then.
In the post-game press conference, a reporter and Mourinho engaged in a verbal altercation, and the Roma manager eventually won by making a smart joke about the reporter’s failure to go past the Tirana final. The former Inter, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United manager responded when asked what was required to win a game:
“To score goals. To put the ball in the net. It is as simple as that. Of course, we had our chances, but football is not about chances. It’s about scoring goals.”
The journalist then made a passing mention of the Tirana final, in which Nicolo Zaniolo scored the game-winning goal to break the Dutch hearts, as Jose Mourinho immediately took the hint to launch his onslaught:
“For the past 10 months you were crying. (Laughs). But you shouldn’t cry. You know why, you cannot win the match that you lost. You lost a game, you cannot win that one. The only problem today, is that it is half-time. I promise you if I lose, I sleep, I don’t cry. And I will not go without sleeping for 10 months having nightmares.”
Mourinho then immediately assured the reporter that, should Roma lose the tie, he would not ‘cry’ for ten months like his Feyenoord rivals did. The journalist confessed it during his conversation with the Portuguese that he had rightly suggested that the Eredivisie giants had not yet recovered from their loss in the Tirana final. Meanwhile, Mourinho questioned AS Roma’s depth at the same time after his side got marred by injuries post the narrow defeat:
“We probably lose Abraham and Dybala for these next two games. We are who we are, but we will have the Olimpico crowd fully behind us.
“Am I optimistic for the return leg? Yes, but I’m also worried about Sunday. If a team like ours loses players, there are fewer options and that’s a concern for us. We always do our best. The result is not deserved, but in football ‘deserved’ is not part of my vocabulary. We are not playing against Feyenoord on Sunday, but against Udinese and we have to think about this.”
However, in the event that Dybala’s injury turns out to be serious, the veteran Roma manager will have a difficult time deciding who to field in the starting lineup for the return leg in Italy. Nonetheless, The Giallorossi will be feeling very confident since Mourinho’s career has been defined by coming back from deficits.