Giuliano Callegari, an expert in lip reading, has been able to transcribe what Jose Mourinho said to his players on the pitch of the Puskas Arena in the moments immediately after the penalty shootout loss to Sevilla in the final of the Europa League on Wednesday night.
An enormously compassionate Mourinho, who had just lost the first of his six European finals, consoled his players by telling them that with their togetherness and strong support from the players’ families, the squad will soon recover and go again.
In the clip posted by ForzaRoma, Mourinho also emphatically expressed that he was happy at Roma and wants to continue working with the squad, despite recent reports that he could be entering the final weeks of his Roma career.
Speaking to his players on the pitch, Mourinho supposedly said: “We lost a game, we lost a cup. It wasn’t an essential thing that we lost. Did we lose to them? We didn’t lose, we drew. And what? Who is talking now? Who is chatting about us?
“I went to visit my family and heard some people talking negatively about us and our league position. I was there (to protect) you. We have always been together. We have done everything. We still spoke well, we still played football and this is the brutal truth.
“However, my children have been coming with me to my finals for 20 years, ever since they were little. They are there, crying. My children, 23 and 27 years old. But they follow football and their dad. You go home, your dads will be there, your wives, everyone is here for you. In reality, we didn’t lose.
“The other day I told Lorenzo, Mancini when they came to me, I feel safe here. I want to continue here, for you. For all that I have given for you. I want to stay here. That’s all.
“We don’t have to think about what happened here, we have to think about it at home. Heads up, we are together here. For me, you are my boys even after this loss. Football is football, people are people, you are all still human beings. Let’s go.”
However, Mourinho was unable to avoid controversy during the final, heavily criticising the performance of referee Anthony Taylor during the clash with Sevilla.
Mourinho labelled Taylor a “f***ing disgrace” in the car park of the Puskas Arena, before the Premier League referee and his family were mobbed by waves of furious Roma supporters at the airport, an incident which many have blamed Mourinho for inciting.