Mourinho said he was a lot less pleased with the refereeing in Europa League final. According to the AS Roma coach, referee Anthony Taylor was on hand with Sevilla.
Mourinho devilish about arbitration: “Referee seemed Spanish”
AS Roma eventually lost the final on penalties, after the referee had handed out no fewer than fourteen cards in the previous one hundred and twenty minutes. Mourinho was furious about the race management afterwards. “We are physically exhausted, but also mentally exhausted, because we think it’s an unjust defeat with many incidents that are debatable,” he told Sky Sport.
“We return with a sense of injustice. It was an intense, masculine, lively match with a referee who seemed to be Hispanic. It was yellow, yellow, yellow all the time. The injustice is evident from the fact that Erik Lamela should have received a second yellow card, but he did not get it. And he eventually converted a penalty kick in the shootout,” he added.
At the press conference, Mourinho turned out not to be finished yet. “Since Taylor is such a great referee, let’s hope he only referees in the Champions League next season,” he said with some cynicism. “And I hope he only makes his blunders in the Champions League and not in the Europa League.”
Mourinho more proud of his team than ever before
Jose Mourinho is proud of his team despite the defeat of AS Roma in the final of the Europa League. The Italians lost on penalties to Sevilla, which achieved the seventh Europa League final victory in history.
Shortly afterwards, Mourinho was interviewed by ITV Italy. He quickly got over the disappointment. “I won five finals and lost this one, but I come home proud again. The boys gave everything. We felt pressure against a team that actually has more talent than us. We lost a game, but no dignity,” he said.
The Portuguese will have to deal with a lost European final for the first time in his life. With FC Porto he won the UEFA Cup final and the Champions League final. With Internazionale the CL final, with Manchester United the Europa League final against Ajax and with AS Roma last year the final of the Conference League. But Wednesday’s gave him the most satisfaction. The Special One continued, “I have never gone home so proud as I did today. Everyone reacts differently: one cries, the other laughs.”
Afterwards, the player and staff members of AS Roma received a silver medal for their second place. Mourinho didn’t care much about that. He soon took off his medal and threw it to an AS Roma fan in the audience. “Congratulations to Sevilla, but also to my players. The boys should go home peacefully, proud for doing what they did. These are my boys from Budapest,” he concluded.
