ROMA – With a goal from Bove in the first half (after Cristante’s penalty goal), a double from Pellegrini and the final signing of Abraham, Roma overtook Udinese reinforcing their third place in the standings. These are Mourinho’s words at the end of the match.
23:40
“We want to reach the Europa League final”
The last thoughts of the Portuguese: “We are not a perfect team, we struggle to get three victories in a row, we don’t have uniform results. But we work hard and when we can’t do it on the pitch we work in groups and try to analyze everything to help the players find the best way to play. It’s hard to play in the cup and then win in the league. It’s difficult for everyone, it’s not only physical but also mental tiredness. It has already happened to me that when you play in Europe against a team from your league it’s more difficult (referring to Napoli-Milan, ed) because it is more difficult from an emotional point of view. We are all in the quarter-finals, we all want to reach the final, we see the way forward and lose a lot of energy. People are not always able to concentrate on 100% for 3-4 games in a row. I prefer the difficulty but to continue in Europe, if we lose on Thursday, maybe I’ll get here and I better say so that now we can only think about the championship (laughs, ed.). But the truth is that if you get to quarters you think about getting to the end”.
23:35
“The standings? I don’t think in the long term”
On the position in the standings: “We think match by match. There are teams that can make predictions, can look to the future with certainty, with squads that allow them to suffer less from the marathon of the season. For us, it’s always a question mark, just a injury or a suspension to go into difficulty. I’m not thinking about the long term, I’m only thinking about Thursday.”
23:30
“Even Abraham Is in Doubt”
Mourinho speaks at the press conference: “I expected this performance. Lorenzo, Bove, Gini, the two fifths, Belotti: all fresh, they didn’t have the 90 minutes of Rotterdam. I expected energy, intensity and organization. The 3-0 did not reflect the complexity of the match. Dybala is in doubt, Tammy is also in doubt, Paulo is a bigger doubt. Abraham only played because we needed to. We will arrive on Thursday in excellent condition”.
23:25
“Will Dybala be there on Thursday? Maybe…”
The coach continues: “The defensive organization is important for us, we are not fast up front, the only one is Solbakken who was on the bench like Tammy. With the others we have to recover the ball high because if we recover it low we don’t have fast transitions. When the “The energy has dropped, the team has dropped and we have suffered. Now we have to forget the championship and see if it is possible to win on Thursday, I think so. Will Dybala be there? Maybe, I’m more positive than negative, but it’s a maybe.”
23:20
“Pellegrini? I didn’t let him take the penalty because…”
Mourinho lingers on Pellegrini’s game after the penalty from the penalty spot in the Netherlands: “The performances recently weren’t fantastic, there’s not always a need to say what’s happening internally, but he always has our trust. I didn’t tell him to take the penalty because I thought he didn’t need this extra pressure. If it was 2-0 up he would have kicked it, if it was decisive he wouldn’t. He had a great game and a great goal.”
23:15
“Bove made a mistake, but I’m not mad”
Mourinho talks about Bove: “He played very well today, but he made a mistake that could have changed the game. If Rui Patricio hadn’t saved the penalty it would have been complicated. I’m not angry with Bove, it’s part of growing up. I’m happy with this boy Italian and Romanist”.
23:10
Mourinho: “We risked”
The coach analyzes the match like this: “We changed several players, we took risks, but an excellent response came from the team. The result is deceiving because it wasn’t an easy match. They played in our half, we ducked down and there we felt tired, in the low block we had some difficulties and then Rui Patricio saved the penalty”.
22:55
Soon the words of Mourinho
After tonight’s win (HERE THE REPORT OF THE MATCH) e Pellegrini’s goal after the missed penalty in the Netherlands, there is great anticipation for the Portuguese coach’s statements at the end of the match against Udinese.
22:40
The match ends: Roma beat Udinese
The match ends after six minutes of added time. Roma beat Udinese 3-0.