New Hellas Verona coach Igor Tudor makes his debut against Roma and can’t wait to face Jose Mourinho, who ‘wrote football history.’
It kicks off on Sunday at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT).
Tudor was brought in this week to replace Eusebio Di Francesco, who was fired after losing all three Serie A matches at the helm.
On the other hand, the Giallorossi have won all six games between the league and Europa Conference League since Mourinho took charge.
“Roma are in great shape, they have a coach who wrote football history,” said Tudor in his press conference.
“We prepared it as best we could and had two training sessions together. I saw the team was eager to do well and we’ll certainly be motivated, playing in our stadium, being without a win for some time. We need to do what we practiced, and the rest will come.
“It is always enjoyable to play against teams like Roma and I can’t wait for the game to get started. It is also important we don’t look to alibis like bad luck, hitting the woodwork, or the referee… Some things you just need to run a bit harder and do better.”
Miguel Veloso, Gianluca Frabotta and Kevin Ruegg are ruled out by injury.
Tudor was asked who he feared the most from the Roma squad and chose a different route.
“The coach. They have great players too, even those on the bench would be good to have at any Serie A club, but we have to remain concentrated on ourselves.”
Tudor: “Abbiamo preparato la partita al meglio, Mourinho ha fatto la storia del calcio”https://t.co/ZkCqECjqP7#ASRoma #RomanewsEU pic.twitter.com/FVJB5zuZI3
— Romanews EU (@romanewseu) September 18, 2021