AS Roma beat Leicester City 2-1 in the semis of the UEFA Europa Conference League 2021-22 on Thursday. Roma manager Jose Mourinho became emotional after entering the final.
It was an intense night in Rome, as Italian giants AS Roma defeated English colossi Leicester City in the semis of the 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League (ECL). Played at the Stadio Olimpico, the Capitoline won 1-0, as it was a 2-1 win on aggregate. Meanwhile, Roma head coach Jose Mourinho was emotional after the win.
The victory earns Roma its first-ever European final berth in 31 years. Roma has never won the UEFA Champions League (UCL) or the UEFA Europa League (UEL). However, it did win Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1960-61 and Anglo-Italian Cup in 1972, both of which are now discontinued. Winning the inaugural ECL can be considered the first significant UEFA trophy for Roma. In contrast, Mourinho would become the first manager to win all three major UEFA trophies, having already become the first to enter the final of all three.
Speaking on why he became emotional, Mourinho quoted, "Why did I shed a tear? Because I feel what they all feel. 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," concluded Mourinho.
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On the other hand, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers defined, "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."
