Jose Mourinho provided an update on the health of his Roma squad, how he could line-up his frontline and the qualities of tomorrow’s opponents Real Betis.
The Giallorossi are hungry for all three points in their clash with the Spanish side, who lead Group C of the Europa Conference League after picking up wins over both Ludogorets and HJK. Roma lost to the Bulgarian outfit and so are desperate to beat Real Betis in order to continue pushing for a spot in the Round of 16.
Speaking in a press conference, Mourinho first discussed the condition of Paulo Dybala and what he expects from Real Betis.
“Paulo is well and playing. The difficulty tomorrow is playing against a team with quality, a clear identity and great experience. They’re a team that have won and in Spain it’s not easy if you’re not among the top three teams.
“It will be tough, but so will they. Eleven against eleven plus sixty thousand, hopefully they will do theirs because in a week’s time in Seville the Spanish fans will be wild. I trust my players and my sixty thousand.”
He commented on if talented youngster Nicola Zalewski will feature in tomorrow’s game.
“Zalewski can play just about anywhere, he has turned into a good player. He also plays in the national team and is not a low-level selection.
“He is an important player for us, it makes no difference whether he is on the bench or on the pitch.”
The Portuguese coach reacted to the information that he could become the most successful coach in Europe should Roma win tomorrow.
“It’s not an incentive or being proud, when it arrives I will always be proud of my career. When I finish my career I will have many things to remember and think about.
“Right now I am interested in winning the next game and it will be difficult, it is a high level match. I want to win because we need points, we only have three and that’s not enough.”
Mourinho discussed the possibility of deploying Andrea Belotti and Tammy Abraham together.
“Good players can play together. At the beginning for many it seemed impossible for Pellegrini, Zaniolo, Dybala and Abraham to play together. Unfortunately an injury here and there didn’t allow us to use them all the time, but when we use them they work.
“Abraham and Belotti are two good players and they can play together, it’s up to us coaches then to find the right solution.
“It’s not easy for a team to play against Belotti and Abraham together, but I don’t want to say who will play because Real Betis will have many solutions and not who will play tomorrow.”
He spoke about the fact that Nicolo Zaniolo seems to score more in Europe than he does in Serie A.
“He’s a player who worries opponents. That’s out of the question. He’s a player who isn’t selfish. Sometimes his way of playing sees him make individual decisions, but he is not a player who saves energy or thinks about himself. He gives everything for his team.
“Defensively he works a lot for us and a player who works as hard as he does, it is normal that he doesn’t score 20 goals in a season. But he is a really important player for us. For us whether he scores less or more is not important.
“Does he score more in Europe? Maybe they have a higher level in Serie A than we do in the Conference League and Europa League. But Betis and Leicester are of a very high level, but in Serie A we have more complicated matches.”
Mourinho commented on how much confidence the four points picked up against Inter and Juventus give his squad.
“The four points picked up from Inter and Juventus are the ones we lost with Udinese and Atalanta, if we compare in numbers with last year we didn’t gain much. If we speak on an emotional level it’s important to get results in these stadiums, it gives you a different feeling.
“For example, we talked about the defeat against Atalanta, but we came off the pitch with a great feeling of superiority in the middle of the pitch.
“Last year sometimes we went to these stadiums and came out with the feeling of being inferior, now we can go out drawing, losing or winning but with the feeling of superiority. Then it’s clear that they are points that bring something extra. Very happy for the guys.”
He spoke about the condition of Lorenzo Pellegrini.
“Let’s see, sometimes you know more than me. We still have to train and hear from him too. I know him well, if he says no it’s because there’s no possibility.
“If he tells me he is available then he is. In this case I’m waiting for Lorenzo, more than the doctors.”
Finally, Mourinho revealed why he watched the win over Inter from a coach outside the stadium.
“I was in a coach, in a nice coach. I liked to hear the sound of the stadium. You could hear so much when it was an Inter or Roma goal. You suffer more in the coach.”
Roma belongs to the top and should show that against Real Betis. The bench is as good as the starters so no need to panic.