AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho affirmed that he is ‘more proud than sad’ as an injury plagued Giallorossi battled for a 1-1 share of the spoils with AC Milan.
After the game, Mourinho joked that Roma might get a central defender from the Scudetto-winning Roma Women.
Roma thought they had won the encounter when Tammy Abraham netted at the 94th minute with the first strike on target, as Zeki Celik ran from midfield to assist the forward.
But, it still wasn’t over, as Alexis Saelemaekers netted a Rafael Leao cross at the back post with a perfectly placed volley that went between goalie Rui Patricio’s legs.
AS Roma and AC Milan have amassed same number of points
Both teams remain tied together in fourth place, but as the head-to-head record is now similar with a 2-2 share of the spoils at San Siro, the Rossoneri are ahead on overall goal difference.
Jose Mourinho speaking with DAZN said:
“If we only talk about the performance, then I say the result is unfair on us. Only we, only we, with all that we built as a team, only we can play against Milan the way we did with all the difficulties that we are in.
“We are not a rich team, we don’t have a big squad, every time we lose a player it is a big problem and we lost several today.
“Despite all these difficulties, to fight so hard against AC Milan for an achievement of finishing fourth would be simply incredible, only we can do that.
“I am sad, obviously, as we had three points in our hands, but I am more proud than I am sad.”
This was already a delicate encounter for Roma in view, as Chris Smalling, Diego Llorente, Gini Wijnaldum, Rick Karsdorp alongside Paulo Dybala were nursing injuries ahead of the game.
AS Roma additionally lost Marash Kumbulla and Andrea Belotti to the treatment room by half-time of the clash at the San-Siro.
Jose Mourinho also said: “There are coaches who play the way they want. They can choose the system, choose the players, choose those who can allow us different approaches. We have to build a team, game by game, with what we have at our disposal.
“This is why I don’t like to talk much about tactics. I prefer to say these lads are fantastic, that we are still in this position and will give everything we can to the end of the season.”
Nemanja Matic was shown a yellow card and will subsequently be suspended for the midweek encounter against in-form Monza.
The 60-year-old hilariously said: “The women’s team just won the Scudetto, they have a very good centre-back who played for Bayern Munich, maybe she can play for us
“We are there and will do everything that we can. I am a very proud coach. I still see this as two points dropped rather than one gained.”
Roma might be plagued with injuries, but they are in the UEFA Europa League semi-final and battling for fourth place in the top flight of Italian football.
