Jose Mourinho praised the ‘truly special’ Roma fans after a moving salute to the crowd, insisting the Conference League would ‘mean more in terms of passion’ than the Scudetto for Inter or Milan.
It looks as if fifth place is now beyond the Giallorossi, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Venezia, so focus inevitably now turns to the Conference League Final against Feyenoord on May 25.
With that in mind, the ultras put up a banner in the Curva Sud urging them to ‘crown our dreams of glory and write your names in history.’
Serie A | Roma 1-1 Venezia: Relegated Lagunari stall Mourinho
The players and Mourinho came back out to salute the fans and throw jerseys into the stands, as the crowd and squad applauded each other for a good 10-15 minutes.
This was the final home game of the season, they visit Torino on Friday and then fly to Tirana for the Conference League Final.
“We are the ones who tried to thank the fans. It was once again a family. There is a way we can always thank them, which is to give our all on the field and we did it again today. At the end, if we can also win a trophy, I’ll say it was deserved for us, but even more deserved for the fans,” Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia.
“If this happens, when Milan or Inter win the Scudetto, I think in terms of passion of the people, this means far more. Family is always there when you win, when you don’t win it’s different.
“I don’t know if it has always been like this, but I can say Roma have truly special fans. Truly special.”
David Okereke opened the scoring within 50 seconds and Sofian Kiyine was sent off for a nasty kick in Lorenzo Pellegrini’s crotch just 32 minutes into the match.
The rest of the match was simply a siege on Niki Maenpaa’s goal, leading to 46 shots on goal, 16 of them on target, and the woodwork rattled four times by the Giallorossi.
Eldor Shomurodov eventually managed to scrape an equaliser, but it’s safe to say fifth place is now beyond them.
“We gave our all, deserved to win, obviously playing against 10 men for an hour allows you to dominate even more. Venezia were very good this evening, they are real professionals and I hope to see them back in Serie A soon.
“If we look back over the season, we had a very low percentage of chances converted. With an extra five or six goals, we’d have far more points. That is where we need to improve next season.
“It is clear we are struggling a little at the moment, as we have many players who are at the limit of risking injuries, but we have to keep taking these risks for one more game and then can focus on the Final.”
Nicolò Zaniolo had been expected to start, but was ruled out by a muscular issue.
“Nobody rested, Zaniolo, Mkhitaryan and Felix are all injured, they could not play today.”
🟨 Mourinho sotto la Curva Sud 🟥#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/linbCPm6if
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) May 14, 2022
💛❤️ pic.twitter.com/x1avqHIdrl
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) May 14, 2022
Ok, c’mon… Even the most loyal Mourinho supporter must admit this is utter dross. Interisti, if you won the league this year, you’d go ape, right? The Conference League is equivalent to the old Intertoto Cup. If that’s what Roma aspire to, then the days of Totti and Co are long, long gone.
if Mourinho would like us to believe that we are all idiots, so be it …… if Mourinho wants to make us believe that a hamburger is better than caviar, so be it …….
NOrata i hope you don’t have any dependents because with you leading the way they are in trouble.
Since you are unable to function logically and are unable to understand complexities i will explain what he means for you in plain english.
winning a european trophy means more than winning a domestic one.
you would be hard pressed to find any logical human being argue otherwise.
thankfully the season is almost over and i can relax knowing i won’t have to read anymore of your “dross” comments.
Obviously winning a Scudetto or champions league is the pinnacle But Roma havint won anything in years. And if we can win the conference league then it is certainly better than winning a Coppa Italia And it would be an Italian team winning in Europe, something that is unfortunately super rare. So stop begrudging Roma and get behind them for the final
Farmers cup, grande moaninho!!!!
He literally said right at the start of the campaign he wasn’t interested in winning this cup. That the league is a priority.
@Mogs Literally what Chris2 said. You can reframe this as much as you want but winning the Conference League isn’t winning in Europe… It’s a cup with zero prestige which Mourinho knows very well. I’ll still be behind Roma to win it, though, because why not? Got a lot of Roman friends and family. But my comment was about Mou trying to tell us that black is really white.
Pathetic, anything to make himself look like a success. If Roma win this trophy, good for them, it is something and not nothing. But to imply this is more important in any way than a scudetto, or on par with the established European trophies, come on. Absurd.
Mourinho has had a positive effect on Roma. There’s no doubt. I would be extremely happy to win the Conference League. It’s a trophy and it’s qualification for the Europa League. And it’s good for the club. And the fans will enjoy it.
Mourinho wouldn’t get the trophy and wouldn’t get any chance in Europe next season either, always looking for a place to hide… his old skool strategy no longer work here anymore… winning the conference league does not tag roma as Italian champion…I believe if roma face the team that inter and Milan face in champion they won’t get a point…. mourinho should Keep quite and be ashame.
No matter how the Grade of Conference League… That’s still European Competition… Like or dislike if you Send INTER Milano, Beside another Milano, Juventus, Atalanta, or Napoli… Did you think they all can make it to Final (Conference League)?!
I always keep it simple when I type here. Haters will always hate. The UCL is a European competition and like any other European competition, it never matters until you actually win it, and Roma are very close to doing so, which is unsettling few of those sad hatters like NOrata. As for Mourinho, this is his first year with Roma and look where Roma are, both inside and outside the pitch. The second stadium turnout behind Milan. A European final and still a chance to finish 5th in the league. All in the first season. Add to all of this he’s the last manager to win a trophy with the Man U post Sir Alex Ferguson and got a failing Tottenham to a final – also in his first year.
Without a question, this is the greatest coach is modern football simply because of his record on the pitch and his a ability to bring attention to his clubs.
Hater will never understand what I’m talking about because they are swimming in their own self pity and hate.
Forza Roma. Forza Mourinho.
God bless JM
Mou will be happy since for the squad he has it is an achievement Roma haven’t won anything in a while. But to compare it with the scudetto or even Coppa Italia is complete nonsense. It’s the same way if you compare winning the league title whether in Italy, England or France to winning the CL. The one thing Roma need to understand is that Mou tend to have a fall out with players and he won’t last so if they think this is just his first season so it’ll get better next time then they are clearly delusional. Some coaches are in there for the team Mou is there for himself and winning another trophy regardless of how unimportant for other teams is a great personal achievement so the next thing to expect is a fallout unless Roma meet ALL of Mou demands.
Hahahahaha CMON he think he can get away with everything.
The Conference League is far from being a ‘farmers’ trophy. That said, it doesn’t come close to the standard and prestige that is Serie A.
What’s better, winning a high level marathon of 38 games against the best in your own backyard; a trophy that has a rich 100 year history or a brand new, third tier European competition?
The Conference League deserves respect for the fact that the winner has to play approx 15 fixtures against decent opposition – and travel away to some very long/awkward locations – to reach the final.
At the end of the day, it’s a European trophy and winning the inaugural edition would be a nice piece of history and could give the club, and indeed the league, a much needed confidence boost.
It’s a Mickey mouse cup ffs
Jose talked in terms of pas(s)ion, in terms of happiness. Roma hasn’t won in such a long time that there are some fans who will cry if Lupa gets the Conference League.
But he disrespected Milanisti who I believe are even more emotionally invested in their road to Scudetto as their achievement would be far greater.
Saying that Roma winning Conference League means more to fans than Juve winning its 9th title in a row, I get. –But don’t compare it to AC Milan‘s hopes & dreams of this year.
Try writing pas(s)ion without brackets and FI’s automatic censor will not publish your post. 🙂
Same goes for pas(s), as(s)ist, etc… Kinda hard to write on football site without these words, no?
(At least I am allowed to write “hard” LOL)