The final of the Conference League between Feyenoord and AS Roma was held last night won 1-0 by the Italians† The Italian sports newspaper The Gazzetta dello Sport don’t beat around the bush. ‘The Conference League belongs to Mou!’, referring to coach José Mourinho, is written on the website.
‘Two goal posts and a Portuguese’
It is thanks to that one goal in the first half by 22-year-old Nicolò Zaniolo that AS Roma won the match, writes La Gazzetta. Because although Feyenoord came close to a tie several times in the second half, ‘two goalposts and the Portuguese goalkeeper held onto the win’.
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The Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport writes that the second half started exciting. Feyenoord almost equalized twice, but the ball landed on the post both times.
Exciting minutes
According to La Gazzetta, Mourinho must have seen how the center of gravity shifted from Roma to Feyenoord at that moment. So the coach decided to move to a 3-5-1-1 to give more substance to the midfield.
“The Dutch had several opportunities,” writes The Guardian in the second half. “But all attempts were blocked or badly finished, leaving Roma with the European trophy.”
The French sports newspaper The team praises goalkeeper Rui Patricio for his work in the second half, although according to the newspaper he can also ‘thank his goalposts’.
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Trainer Arne Slot must have felt like Louis van Gaal or Peter Bosz halfway through the final, it writes AD.
“To end the game in a final battle against a Jose Mourinho team, that has often proved an impossible task.” Due to the deficit that had accumulated in the first half, ‘the final didn’t seem to deliver the party so dreamed of’.
‘Mourinho Koning’
Also The Telegraph writes that the Rotterdammers did not get ‘King Mourinho’ down. The Italian coach’s teams have been masters for years at defending a lead, with time wasting, with schwalbes and with simulating injuries. That is exactly what happened, the newspaper writes about the final of the Conference League.
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The German newspaper Bild also praises Portuguese coach Mourinho. “He is the only coach who has won all European finals with his teams,” Bild wrote. The Champions League in 2004 and 2010, the Europa League in 2003 and 2017 and now the Conference League. “No trainer has ever succeeded in that.”
After the loss of Feyenoord, the atmosphere in Rotterdam became grim, watch images of it here:
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More than 2.8 million people saw Feyenoord lose
Last night, more than 2.8 million people watched the final between Feyenoord and AS Roma. Stichting KijkOnderzoek reports that the competition was the most watched program of the day. The match was broadcast by Veronica and sports channel ESPN and together the two accounted for 2,828,000 viewers. Most people watched Veronica, namely 2,345,000.
893,000 people watched the tribute of AS Roma in the Albanian stadium. At ESPN, the awards ceremony was attended by 309,000 people.
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