Roma manager Jose Mourinho lashed out with a cheeky attitude at a Dutch journalist following his side’s Europa League loss to Feyenoord.
The Portuguese manager was interacting at his post-match presser after Roma’s 1-0 first leg defeat to Feyenoord and in spite of the loss, Jose appeared to be in a jovial mood as he talked about what went down during the game.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since Jose Mourinho’s team defeated Feyenoord in last year’s first-ever edition of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
And Mourinho entered into a funny verbal conversation with a journalist when talking about the two games involving both sides.
When questioned about what his side need to do to mount a comeback in the encounter, the Portuguese responded by saying:
“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 Dutch journalist then brought up the position of last year’s final, where Nicolo Zaniolo goal was the deciding factor which pierced the hearts of Feyenoord faithfuls in the inaugural Europa Conference League Final.
And Jose Mourinho was fast to reply with a cheeky response, straightaway.
“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.”
Roma lost the first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-final clash last Thursday via a solitary goal netted by Mats Wieffer.
It was a bad day at the office for Roma who wasted a penalty through Lorenzo Pellegrini and had both Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala limp off due to injuries.
However, Jose Mourinho still believes his team can turn the game around for the second leg that would be played in Rome, Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.
“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,’ he added.
“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.
He added: “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.”
The Giallorossi are presently 3rd in the Italian Serie A, two points ahead of Inter Milan who occupy 5th on the table as the race to finish in a champions league position for next campaign gets even hotter.
