Will it be the sixth European final in Jose Mourinho’s career as head coach? AS Roma will meet Bayer Leverkusen (20.00, SIC), from Germany, this Thursday evening, in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final, going on the field with a guaranteed goal advantage in the first leg, thanks to a goal by Edoardo Bove.
Jose Mourinho is already the coach in history with the most appearances in finals for different clubs, out of a total of four. And he can seal his sixth appearance if he knocks out the Germans, who are coached by Xabi Alonso, Mou’s former player at Real Madrid – he won with FC Porto (UEFA Cup and Champions League, in 2003 and 2004 respectively), Inter Milan (Champions League, 2010), Manchester United (Europa League 2017) and AS Roma (Conference League 2022).
It should be noted that the Portuguese coach was present in another previous final, in 1996-97, but still as assistant to Bobby Robson at Barcelona – it was in the extinct Cup Winners’ Cup, against PSG. And they all have a common denominator: The Special One always won.
But to reach another final, Mourinho will first have to knock out the Germans of Leverkusen, currently seventh in the Bundesliga. “I don’t think about the past, about my other finals, only about the present. And I think about others more than about myself. I would really like to reach the final because of these incredible players and extraordinary fans. This group gives everything, difficult times, and these guys deserve the final, but for that they have to play an extraordinary game,” said Mourinho.
The Portuguese coach still refused any favoritism against the Germans, despite having the advantage in the draw. “Zero superstitions, zero bookies and zero favoritism. I’ve been saying the same thing for twenty years: if you reach a semi-final, you have a 25% chance of winning the competition and a 50% chance of reaching the final. It’s my superstition mixed with pragmatism. It’s 1-0 for us, but I don’t know how it will end. If there can be extra time, penalties. We have the utmost respect for Bayer, the draw is at half-time,” he said.
However, Le Parisien newspaper reported that Mourinho is not in PSG’s plans for next season, a hypothesis that emerged last week. According to the French newspaper, the sports director of the Parisians, the Portuguese Luís Campos, is a good friend of the coach, with whom he regularly talks about football, and he does not want to risk a friendship of more than 30 years.
It is certain that Christophe Galtier will even resign, but his successor will not be Mourinho in advance. Questioned yesterday about the future (he has a contract with AS Roma until 2024, but it is not certain that he will stay), the coach was adamant: “I am not going to think about the final or my future. The focus now is on this semi-final game.”
Xabi says there are no friendships
Xabi Alonso, despite Leverkusen being at a disadvantage, believes his team can get past the tie and reach the final. “In Rome it was a hard-fought, balanced game and we expect the same tomorrow. We are happy to have reached the semi-finals, but we want more. This is a golden opportunity. We are going to have a strong team, but we expect a historic night.” , said Xabi Alonso, who also left a word to Mourinho, who was his coach at Real Madrid: “Fate brought us together again in this semifinal. Before the game we’ll give a hug, but after that there are no friendships .”
AS Roma are looking to reach their fourth European final in their history, their second in a row after last season, with Mourinho (and with Rui Patrício in goal), after winning the Conference League. In the other two – the 1984 European Cup and the 1991 UEFA Cup – it lost.
Leverkusen, on the other hand, is still chasing its first European title, having lost the 1988 UEFA Cup final and the 2002 Champions League.
It should be noted that the other semi-final will pit Sevilla and Juventus against each other – the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw. That is, the final scheduled for the Puskás Aréna, in Budapest, Hungary, could be between two Italian teams on May 31. But be careful, as Sevilla have been a real frontrunner for the last two decades – they won six editions of the Europa League (2005-06, 2006-07, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2019-20).
Source: DN
