Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini insisted that all credit must go in the direction of Jose Mourinho after the Giallorossi booked their place in the Europa League final after defeating Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 over two legs over the course of the last week.
Pellegrini credited the Special One with ‘creating Roma’s personality’, which has helped them reach successive European finals over the last two seasons.
Speaking to the Sky Sport Italia cameras after the 0-0- draw at the BayArena on Thursday night, Pellegrini said of Mourinho: “He’s different, he makes you realise the importance of the match, we came here and everyone knew what they had to do.
“We study, we organise ourselves, we watch videos. Especially in Europe, you can see what the coach brings us. Mourinho is the creator of this personality of ours.”
Despite reaching the Europa League final, where a win would confirm a place in next season’s Champions League, Pellegrini admitted that there are still certain areas upon which Roma can improve.
“There are many things that Roma can and must improve on,” he said. “But nobody can take our sacrifice and togetherness on the pitch away from us, Bayer are a strong team, good in possession, they had to attack but we stood strong together, as a family, and we prevailed.”