Mourinho: “I gave my all to Roma and I was repaid with love.”
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José Mourinho hasn’t forgotten Roma and its fans.
The Special One gave a long interview to Il Corriere dello Sport and revisited his experience in the capital, which led him to win a Conference League title and play in the Europa League final, which he ultimately lost on penalties to Sevilla.
On Wednesday, October 14th, at 9:00 PM, the Portuguese coach will return to the stadium that gave him so much love for the Champions League match between the Giallorossi and Real Madrid.
On the contacts with Florentino Perez before returning to Real Madrid: “First there’s contact, and then the media buzz begins when there’s already something going on. Here it was the opposite. Before, there was the buzz when there was zero contact, and I was happy at Benfica, which is ten minutes from my house and is special to me. I heard the rumors and was surprised; I thought it was just rumors and that it wasn’t true. Besides, things were going well at Benfica. I hadn’t been here in Madrid for 13 years, but I’ve always remained close to Real Madrid, also because Ancelotti was the coach there for many years and I’m a friend of the president.”
On relationships with former clubs: “I have a very special relationship with practically all my former clubs, or almost all of them. I’ve always come out of situations well, even when I was sacked. I’ve never said a negative word. You know how much leaving Roma hurt me, but I don’t have a single word against the club or the owners. When I leave, I leave clean. It may not seem like it, but I’m a very polite person and I leave with the feeling that this will always be my home. And that’s how it was in Madrid too. Perhaps I’d only rule out Tottenham, but that was during a period of Covid, and I didn’t have much contact with the public and the fans.”
On the special connection with the Roma fans: “They were special to me. I always say: the day I arrived and I saw 1,000 people. I didn’t understand why, I hadn’t done anything yet. I didn’t think I deserved it, but this is Rome and I understood it afterwards. Our relationship is special because they understood that I didn’t care about my image or the relationships I might have with Italian football politics, the press, or the owners. I was only interested in the good of Roma and the Roma fans. I fought for them, I gave everything. We won a trophy that’s worth a lot for a club that didn’t win much.”
“The other day, an agent friend of mine sent me a photo of the Conference, which is still at the entrance to the training center. The fans’ love for the club is incredible. Then I made mistakes, I lost games, but they always understood that I had always fought for them. The Budapest final is the pinnacle of this connection. After the final, I go on vacation, and when I come back, I’m already dead for what they made me pay for. UEFA. What happened to Taylor at the airport isn’t my responsibility, the insults in the garage are, and I just had to pay for that. And I paid for that in my relationship with Roma’s owners, since they had a different approach. At that point, I was already out.”
On the welcome he expects at the Olimpico for the October 14th match: “I don’t expect anything. I just expect respect, that’s all. I haven’t even started preparing for that match yet. Neither as a coach nor as a former player returning home. I haven’t thought about that yet. I have to defend myself and prepare to do my job well, and to do that I have to try to forget where I am and who I’m playing against. I did this with Inter, for example, or with Chelsea. It’s never happened to me in Rome, and I have to say it will be different. I’ll be taking the road to the Olimpico as an opponent. It will be the first time I’ve gone there without the passion of the Roma fans. And I’ll have to prepare my players for this. My players are top-notch and are used to it, but in Rome there’s a different, beautiful atmosphere.”