All roads lead to Rome and Jos Mourinho has once again found the path to victory on his way to the Italian capital. The Portuguese coach, whom the spotlights stopped shining after the irregular end of his time at Manchester United and his blank adventure at Tottenham, has returned to the front line at the Olympic. He came to a ‘giallorossi’ team away from the Champions League in ‘calcium’ and has given them their desired and elusive European metal. He is already eternal.
“We have made history. It is a tournament in which we believed and that we wanted to win from the beginning,” said a Mourinho who raised the Conference after winning (1-0) at Feyenoord. ‘The Special One’, excited after five years without titles, remains undefeated in the European finals. He has played five and has won all five with four different teams. Two with Porto (UEFA 2003 and Champions 2004), one with Inter (2010 Champions League), another with United (2017 Europa League) and the latter with Roma. In Tirana he achieved a unique European ‘triple’. No coach has the ‘Orejona’, the Europa League and the Conference in his palms. Only him.
We have made history. It is a tournament in which we believed and that we wanted to win from the beginning
Mou, praised in the ‘calcium’ and revered in Rome, has returned to Serie A continental glory. Since 2010, when he won the Champions League with Inter, no Italian team had won a European title. 12 years later, the Portuguese has returned to ‘champion’. After finishing sixth in Serie A with Roma, in Europa League positions, and falling in the Coppa quarter-finals against the ‘Nerazzurri’, the victory in the Conference has made his first season at the Olimpico historic. He is already a legend and does not think about leaving a club with which he has a contract until 2024.
“I really like being here. I accepted this project that has a duration of three years. After it is finished we will see what happens,” said the Portuguese. Now, after becoming the second coach after Giovanni Trapattoni to win five European titles (the Italian won one Champions League, three UEFA Cups and one Cup Winners’ Cup with Juventus and Inter) Mourinho aspires to bring Roma closer to the ‘calcium’ elite and the Champions League. With a metal it will be easier to try… and do it.
“Winning is very difficult. You need a lot of ingredients. Our team has played 55 games. We came to the final tired, but we worked on it and kept it hidden. This is a fantastic group of players. I told them that reaching the final is not making history and I told them what I had lost. They gave everything and we won”, affirmed Mou after winning the third continental competition. The signings of Abraham, Rui Patricio, Ibez, Oliveira… have mixed perfectly with Pellegrini, Zaniolo, Smalling, Cristante… forming a team who is champion of the Conference.
26 career titles
Roma, after losing the European Cup in 1984 and the UEFA in 1991, finally won a continental trophy. The 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (a title not approved by the highest body in European football) is no longer alone. The ‘Emperor’ Mourinho gave them his first trophy in 14 years (the 2008 Cup was his last award) adding to his museum. The Conference already has its place. The Portuguese has 26 titles on his resume. Six with Porto, eight with Chelsea, five with Inter, three with Real Madrid, three with Manchester United and one with Roma. that give shape to a list of winners in which the only thing missing is the European Super Cup. Yet another challenge.
PHOTOS: Reuters
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