José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix, the youngest manager to reach 100 Champions League games at 49 years and 12 days, will face Sevilla at the grand finale of the UEFA Europa League.
With a determined performance in Leverkusen in their UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg, the Portuguese manager, who currently holds the UEFA Europa League, and his team continued their quest for European silverware in successive seasons.
José Mourinho’s Roma held firm in the UEFA Europa League second leg, preventing Leverkusen from scoring and securing a place in the Budapest final.
Mourinho, the Portuguese manager who has won the most Champions League titles with different clubs, has led Roma to 11 victories in their last 12 European knockout phase matches.
Furthermore, the Giallorossi have reached the final of this tournament for the first time since the 1990–91 season, when they were defeated in a two-leg final by Internazionale Milan.
Last Thursday night, José Mourinho celebrated Roma’s advancement to his second consecutive European final as a manager of the Giallorossi.
Mourinho praised his players and their sacrifice in a hard-fought battle against Bayer Leverkusen in his post-match interview with Internet television and sports broadcasting service DAZN.
“This is the way my team is; it’s a matter of small details; if Chris Smalling isn’t on the bench, maybe we don’t win tonight,” remarked the Special One.
He added, “Losing Celik was tough. Same with Spinazzola. This result is possible thanks to our ability to stick to tactics, direct the game in our favour, and cover our weaknesses.”
“I don’t know if I can ask anything more from the fans, but these boys deserve something special on Monday when we will depart Trigoria,” Mourinho declared.
The two-time Serie A Coach of the Year, 2008–09 and 2009–10, revealed his area of interest at Roma: “My concern is not to become part of Roma’s history, but to help the boys grow as players and help the Romanisti who have helped me from day one. I want to give joy to these people, like the joy of going to a European final.”
