MADRID, 30 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The AS Roma coach, José Mourinho, stressed his team’s deserving of being in the 2022-2023 Europa League final after “a very long and very difficult journey”, and although they do not have “the history” or “the experience” in this competition for Sevilla, does not hide the fact that his team “has two years of work and 30 games in Europe accumulated in two years”.
“Roma arrives in Budapest after a very long and difficult journey, but with the knowledge that they deserved to play this final. The road has been long and different from that of our rival because it comes from the Champions League. We have played 14 games to get there here and yes, without a doubt, we deserve it. We have worked in the last two or three days to try to be in a position to fight for this title,” Mourinho said at a press conference prior to the final.
The man from Setúbal believes that “the fewer doubts the players have on the field, the less the pressure will be” and that “history doesn’t play”. “I think my colleague Mendilibar thinks differently and thinks that Sevilla is the favorite because history makes them a favourite, it is an opinion that must be respected. They have a history that we do not have, an experience that we do not have,” he warned.
In this sense, he found it “curious” that it is said that his team has “a higher budget” than that of the Sevilla team. “It will be because Sevilla players earn little. We have children who played last year in B, as they say in Spain and all of them earn less than Lamela, Montiel or En-Nesyri,” he pointed out.
He does know that he has had “more opportunities” than José Luis Mendilibar to play European matches, but he remarked that both are “of the same generation” and that they are “in a very, very similar situation.” “And their players, obviously, have more experience and more finals, but it’s not like mine arrive here with nothing. We have two years of work and together we have 29, with this final 30, games in Europe accumulated in two years,” he commented. ‘Mou’, who also made it clear that he had “zero contacts” with other clubs for next season.
Finally, the coach of the ‘giallorosso’ team recalled that they have been playing a lot of games “in a short time”. “It’s not that we have a lot of time to work, we’ve had more time to recover and to try to be as good as possible in the games we’ve had,” he clarified.
For his part, the midfielder and captain of AS Roma, Lorenzo Pellegrini, expressed his desire that they be able to deal with Paulo Dybala, despite the fact that “he has had some problems this week.” “We know how important he is to us and I think everyone who loves football hopes to see him in the final on the pitch,” he declared.
The international also recognized that his coach is “unique” because of his record and that he has given them “a lot.” “But we have come to Budapest to play the final and try to win it. The past does not make you win what you will face in the future, we will see how it goes and the truth is that Roma are here in Budapest because they deserve it,” he said.