Jose Mourinho ‘did not expect’ Nemanja Matic to force a transfer to Rennes and lashes out at the refereeing and sporting justice system attitude to Roma. ‘I just want everyone to be treated equally.’
The Serie A campaign kicks off tomorrow at 17.30 UK time (16.30 GMT) against Salernitana.
However, Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini will not be on the field, as they sit out one-match bans left over from last term.
“Having players suspended for accumulating yellow cards in the previous season seems a bit old-fashioned, rather démodé,” said the Special One in his press conference.
Mourinho and his assistant Salvatore Foti are also suspended, so Bruno Conti will be on the bench for the first time in 18 years.
After months of battles with the sporting justice system, and a ban in the Europa League from UEFA too, he was asked what he expects going forward.
“Roma is one thing and I am another. Whether it is political or institutional or whatever, I don’t want to get into that. What interests me is what happens on the pitch.
“What matters to me is that everyone is treated equally. Honesty. If you come here and say you don’t like Mourinho, well I don’t care. If a referee looks at Mourinho or Paulo Sousa, everyone has to be treated equally.
“After the match, I will congratulate the referee if they looked at the two benches and treated us the same way. I am not concerned with whether it is a political issue or not. Referee, pitch, football, the Roma players and the others, it is all equal. That is what I want. If that is what we get, then it will be the perfect season.”
Mourinho was also asked about the departure of Matic, who forced through a cut-price transfer to Stade Rennais after just one year at the Stadio Olimpico.
“If he wants to say something about what happened, he can. After hearing the words of the Rennes director of sport, noting they had been talking for over a month, I don’t know what more there is to say or hear.
“I did not expect Matic to leave, but Roma reacted immediately and in a fantastic way. He played 75 per cent of our games last season, he was important and we lost him. We signed two new players and it is not a problem that he left. Most of the players who leave here, they do it with tears in their eyes and still remain in contact, because we are a family.
“A family carries on with new faces too. Those who arrived can start to understand our group dynamics.”