Jose Mourinho heaped praise upon Inter and wants them to ‘win the Scudetto,’ although he tried everything for Roma to take points off them today. ‘I prefer to lose against a team that is stronger than us.’

The Giallorossi had been unbeaten in 12 Serie A games before this heavy 3-1 setback, decided by Denzel Dumfries, Marcelo Brozovic and Lautaro Martinez, before a late Henrikh Mkhitaryan consolation.

Serie A | Inter 3-1 Roma: No mercy for Mourinho

“Inter are Inter, they are the best team in Serie A with players great in every aspect, but with all due respect, there are many ‘animals’ in their squad – in a good way!” Mourinho told DAZN.

“We needed to be perfect today and we weren’t perfect. We did well, but we weren’t perfect. It was 0-0 and we had that big chance with Mancini’s header, 10 seconds later they scored with a through ball. The second goal was also a through ball after we lost the ball.

“There was a lack of concentration and confidence for about 10-15 minutes before the break. In the second half, we conceded a goal from a set play that my players knew full well how to defend, because we talked about it so much.

“We had the courage to play and keep going. I prefer to lose after three months against a team that is stronger than us, so I have nothing to say.”

Unusually, Mourinho also had no complaints about the officiating from Sozza.

“The referee had a difficult game, because Inter challenging for the Scudetto, Roma coming here looking for the win, it was tough for him. I am happy because he’s an inexperienced referee, but the two teams helped him too. If we’d had Sozza last week instead of the other guy, Di Bello, we’d have picked up three points against Napoli.”

Roma are the only remaining Italian representative in Europe and will face Leicester City on Thursday in the first leg of the Conference League semi-final.

“Now we need to rest, chase the dream of reaching the Conference League Final, which will be so tough on Thursday. As I said, if I had to lose, I preferred losing against a team that was stronger.”

Roma have struggled in the head-to-head matches with the top clubs, so what do they need to do to bridge that gap?

“We need time, work, the growth of players. Zalewski has a lot of qualify for a child. There are teams like Inter who pay to keep Gosens on the bench, whereas we have to work with a kid and help to protect him.

“I really believe our approach was very positive today, and the only reason we didn’t score more was thanks to Inter. We tried to create the situations, but they are good at this, De Vrij had no problem playing one-on-one with Tammy Abraham, I am not at all disappointed with my team’s performance.

“If we had faced a mid-table team today, we’d certainly have won. Inter had two years of Antonio Conte, now one of Simone Inzaghi, they are tactically very smart and well-versed. If you create a problem for them, they will find a way around it.”

This was his first Serie A return to San Siro as an opponent since winning the Treble in 2010 and he was given a warm welcome, holding up his hand in thanks during the final minutes when the Curva Nord and the rest of the crowd joined in doing his old chant.

“I love Inter, Inter love me, but I want to win every match. Obviously, I can say now we no longer have to play Inter, Milan, Roma or Napoli, so now I can say I’d like Inter to win the Scudetto.

“I couldn’t say that before, as this is my work and we are paid to win.”

8 thought on “Mourinho: ‘Inter are stronger than Roma, I hope they win Scudetto’”
  1. But he could have said that before the match because it was very obvious that he was going to throw this game. Lazio should do the same against Milan.

  2. Mou threw the game? LOL

    Did he set up Roma to attack? Sure. It wasn’t a Mourinho Park the Bus job, but even if it was, people would have complained and said he hasn’t given his team the chance to take 3 points.

    Inter were better, and made the most of their chances.

  3. You’ve said it all… He didn’t park the bus. He left his team exposed and didn’t tactically adapt given their superiority in open play. For someone like Mourinho to do that, it’s a schoolboy error. So yes, he threw his team under the bus.

  4. @Norata he was parked the bus on reverse fixture and lose by 0-3, so what’s your point? You do expect him to do the same strategy that proved not working? he is not dumb coach

  5. Roma have always sucked against Inter even before Mourinho arrived. This is not relevant as Juventus dropped too many silly points along with Milan. That is not the fault of Inter as they take care of teams that you are supposed too handle with little fuss. But I will still take Mourinho over PhD Max. At least Jose had the balls to coach abroad, was successful and has 2 CL titles to his resume.

  6. @Lord – Mourinho has done well but note he’s been in teams with infinite budgets and won next to nothing. At Inter, he had no domestic competition so could focus almost exclusively on the CL. He peaked at Inter and then has been in decline ever since, starting at Utd and then Tottenham and now Roma. So maybe you’re all right, he now sucks as much as Roma.

  7. Give him proper players and and he will challenge for the title, especially with the “leaders” bottleing it week in & out.

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