Try telling Jose Mourinho that the Uefa Europa Conference League is not an important tournament.
Mourinho becomes the first-ever manager to lead four different teams in European finals tonight when his Roma side play Feyenoord in the inaugural final of Europe’s third-tier competition in the Albanian capital of Tirana.
Roma already have a Europa League campaign to look forward to next year, having finished sixth in Serie A, but Mourinho is eager to add some silverware, and was seen crying earlier this month when his side beat Leicester to reach their first European final for 31 years.
“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,” Mourinho said.
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“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.”
Mourinho is a serial winner but on a barren run of his own, having last picked up a trophy when steering Manchester United to the Europa League in 2017.
He would argue he would have done so again in 2021, but he was sacked by Tottenham in the week leading up to their EFL Cup final against Manchester City.
“I’ve won 25 and a half trophies,” Mourinho joked last year. “The half is the final I didn’t play with Spurs.”
Mourinho has referenced that inability to lead Spurs out at Wembley more than once, but he can at least, officially, make it 26 trophies on Wednesday night in what is his first season at Roma.
The Conference League may be a competition he wants to avoid in the future, but it would be his first title at Roma, adding to a collection that first started in 2003.
Jose Mourinho’s trophy list
Porto
- 1 x Champions League – 2003-04
- 1 x Uefa Cup – 2002-03
- 2 x Primeira Liga – 2002-03, 2003-04
- 1 x Portuguese Cup – 2002-03
- 1 x Portuguese Super Cup – 2003
Chelsea
- 3 x Premier League – 2004-05, 2005-06, 2014-15
- 1 x FA Cup – 2006-07
- 3 x EFL Cup – 2004-05, 2006-07, 2014-15
- 1 x FA Community Shield – 2005
Inter Milan
- 1 x Champions League – 2009-10
- 2 x Serie A – 2008-09, 2009-10
- 1 x Coppa Italia – 2009-10
- 1 x Supercoppa Italiana – 2008-09
Real Madrid
- 1 x La Liga – 2011-12
- 1 x Copa del Rey – 2010-11
- 1 x Supercopa de Espana – 2012-13
Manchester United
- 1 x Europa League – 2016-17
- 1 x EFL Cup – 2016-17
- 1 x FA Community Shield – 2016
Mourinho won six trophies at Porto, including the Champions League in 2004, and then won eight at Chelsea across two stints, including the Premier League three times.
Between those spells at Stamford Bridge he was at Inter, where he won the treble in 2010, and also Real Madrid, where he won La Liga.
Mourinho then famously boasted that leading Manchester United to second in the Premier League was a significant achievement, while the last trophy the club won was when the Portuguese was in charge.
His pedigree has seen him win all four of his European finals, with Wednesday’s match just another chapter in his storied managerial career.
“If I win I will become the first one to win all European trophies, but that’s only if I win,” he added.
“The ‘Special One’ story is an old story. It was when I was at the beginning [of my career]. When you have more maturity and stability, you think more about the people and less about yourself.
“When you arrive at a final after a season of work, the work is done. It’s the team’s moment, not the moment of an individual.
“I don’t believe in magical potions, I don’t believe in magical spells. There’s nothing special to be done, just us to be us as a team. Knowing the qualities we have, knowing the limitations we have.
“For me, no matter how the final ends, this is a positive season for us.”
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