As his Roma side prepares to face Feyenoord in Wednesday’s inaugural Europa Conference League final, Jose Mourinho has stated that it will be about “ending a journey.”
The Giallorossi qualified for the Europa League by defeating Leicester City in the semi-finals and finishing sixth in Serie A this season.
Mourinho has stated that winning the Europa League will be just as important to him as winning the Champions League with Porto and Inter.
The game with their Dutch opponents will occur at Arena Kombetare in Tirana, Albania. Mourinho stated at a press conference on Tuesday that winning the first edition of the competition was a priority for his club.
He said:
“This final is not about writing history.
“It’s about finishing a journey we’ve been on this season and achieving one of the targets we’ve always had.
“My staff and I have been at Trigoria since the Torino game, preparing for this game. The squad look in good shape to me, ready for this.”
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, an attacking midfielder, hasn’t played since sustaining a muscle injury against Leicester last month, but Mourinho claimed the Armenian might return on Wednesday.
“Mkhitaryan trained today with the squad for the first time. But it was only a light session,” he said.
“Still, it was important for him to see how he feels out there on the pitch. I will rely a lot on his view on whether he is ready or not tomorrow.”
The former Chelsea manager had often gone by “The Special One”, following his confident self-tagging when he became boss at Stamford Bridge in 2004. Still, he insisted he is not the same person anymore and wants to help his team.
“The Special One story is nonsense,” he added. “It’s something you say at the beginning of your career. Then, as you progress and mature, you start to think more about others than yourself. So that’s an old story to me. Tomorrow, I will try to help.”
Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini also spoke to the media and said he and his teammates would be “focused and determined” to get the win.
“Who wouldn’t want to bring something home that will remain forever in the history of this club?” the 25-year-old said.
“We will be focused and determined, as we always are. I hope that tomorrow will be one of the best days of my life.”
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