Jose Mourinho said Roma have only themselves to blame for their defeat to Cremonese, but warned he could ‘take legal action’ against fourth official Marco Serra. ‘I won’t get into the fact he’s from Turin and on Sunday we play Juventus.’
The Giallorossi had the opportunity to go into joint second place with a victory at the Stadio Zini, only to emerge empty-handed after a Frank Tsadjout half-volley and Daniel Ciofani penalty.
Leonardo Spinazzola had temporarily equalised with a marvellous control and finish on the Gianluca Mancini long ball over the top.
“The excuse of fatigue will not fly,” Mourinho told DAZN just days after the 2-0 Europa League play-off win against RB Salzburg.
“We were a little unlucky, conceding two goals on their one and a half chances. The responsibility is ours. We lacked intensity, should’ve killed off the game straight away.
“It is certainly not true that one team wanted it more than the other tonight. Roma players always want to win. The sensation is that they were playing the game of a lifetime, though. It was not a game we deserved to win, but we didn’t deserve to lose either.
“After the equaliser, we all thought that the winning goal would come, but instead it was their penalty.”
By that stage, Mourinho was already in the stands after he had been sent off for a row with the fourth official Serra.
“I am emotional, but not crazy. In order to react the way I did, something had to happen first. I need to understand if I can take any legal action. Piccinini gave me a red card, because unfortunately the fourth official does not have the capacity to understand what he said to me.
“I want to find out if there is an audio recording. I don’t want to get into the fact that Serra is from Turin and on Sunday we are playing against Juventus.
“For the first time in my career, a fourth official spoke to me in the most incredible way. It was unjustifiable. At the end of the game, I went to speak to them. Piccinini, who was the fourth official in the last game when I was sent off, told me to apologise to Serra. I told Serra he should have the courage to explain what happened, but he had memory problems.”
When pressed to explain what Serra had said, Mourinho refused.
“I prefer for everything to be done in public.”
As for the match itself, this result leaves Roma in fifth place and they fall behind rivals Lazio too, while it is their second costly defeat to Cremonese after the Coppa Italia quarter-final.
“The last thing I said to the players was to imagine this was the last game of the season: if we lose or draw, we go into the Europa League, if we win it’s the Champions League. We did not win.”
The race for the top four remains wide open, but Mourinho seems more focused on his row with the fourth official.
“I am taking it one game at a time. I cannot leave this game behind now, I cannot even think about Sunday. There is frustration, which obliges me to analyse.
“It is a pity this thing happened with Serra: I respect someone as much as they respect me.”