‘Why did I shed a tear? Because I feel what they all feel.’
Jose Mourinho shed a tear at full-time after leading Roma to their first European final for 31 years following their victory over Leicester City.
Former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham’s goal in the 11th minute was enough to send the Serie A outfit to the final, and end the Foxes’ dream of becoming the inaugural winners of the Europa Conference League.
After the game, Roma boss Mourinho was visibly emotional – later suggesting that it was because he ‘knows what it means’ to Roma supporters.
“Why did I shed a tear? Because I feel what they all feel,” Mourinho said.
“It’s a giant club without a trophy room for the social importance of this club.
“I know what it means to these people and my emotion was for them. I’ve been lucky enough to be in more prestigious finals but this made me feel very special.
“We have a sense of family. With age, you become less selfish and more of a father or even a grandfather to some of them, I’m very happy for all of them.
“Rome is a red and yellow city, we’ll see the joy over the coming days. I’ve made a small contribution to that.”
Jose Mourinho in tears.
You can see what this means to José. He will do anything to bring this city, this club, to glory. And lets be honest, it’s a message to the world that he is still the special one.pic.twitter.com/3ILYrDBNvt
— Lupo TV (@LupoTV_) May 5, 2022
The first leg finished 1-1 at the King Power Stadium, with Gianluca Mancini putting the ball into his own net to cancel out Pellegrini’s early opener for Roma and earn Leicester a draw.
However, in the second leg, Abraham headed in Lorenzo Pellegrini’s free-kick early on in the match, making the most of Leicester’s weakness at set-pieces.
Speaking after the game, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said: “Our Achilles heel all season has been set-pieces and it undid us again tonight. They are about organisation and determination and we lack physicality in those moments.
“They had five players who were big threats from set-pieces so there was always going to be a mismatch somewhere and it came to Ricardo Pereira marking Tammy.”
Full time! Roma 1-0 Leicester City
Mourinho has done it yet again, a commanding performance sees the Lupetti triumph over the foxes 🐺
They'll meet Feyenoord in the #UECL final 🏆 pic.twitter.com/q3ekCOG2Eu
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 5, 2022
Roma will face off against Feyenoord in the Europa Conference League final in Albania on May 25.
