Already thinking about the Europa League final and saving many of the usual headlines, Mourinho’s Roma fell to Fiorentina (2-1) and is left out of the Champions League zone, being able to be surpassed by Juventus.
Heading into the penultimate round of Serie A on Saturday, Roma knew that Juventus once again losing the infamous 15 points through suspension meant that the race for the Champions zone of the standings was wide open. José Mourinho’s team visited Fiorentina in Florence and a win leaves them within a point of third-place AC Milan and ahead of Atalanta, although both have a game to go.
The game, however, was the least important note of the week for Roma. Next Wednesday, in Budapest, the Italians face Sevilla in the Europa League final and seek their second consecutive European title after winning the Conference League last season. — and the sixth European title of José Mourinho’s career. Mourinho who, in recent days, has been highly praised by the historic Arrigo Sacchi, former Italian coach and AC Milan coach.
⌛️ always limps less than #FiorentinaRoma!#ASRome pic.twitter.com/GsNkFlFemN
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) May 27, 2023
“Roma have an extraordinary coach, who has a lot of experience. Mourinho managed to sell refrigerators in Alaska. Their teams are attentive, focused on the issue, have strong personalities, and never give up. They have character, determination. He, like the authentic character that he is, knew how to involve the environment and the group. We are going to see a match between a Sevilla that prefers possession of the ball and a Roma that has a purely defensive vocation, Italian style. I would say that we can expect something from Mourinho and his teams, ”explained Sacchi.
In this context, Mourinho left Çelik, Ibañez, Abraham and Mancini on the bench against Fiorentina and opted for Tahirovic, Missori, Solbakken and Belotti, and Rui Patrício was not even part of the game sheet and was replaced by Svilar in goal. On the other hand, in a team from Florence that will finish the season in the middle of the table, Vincenzo Italiano launched the former Benfica player Luka Jovic as an offensive reference.
Roma opened the scoring in the first 15 minutes, with El Shaarawy finishing off an assist from Solbakken in the rival area (11′). Mourinho launched the usual starters in the second part and Fiorentina turned the score around in the final moments, taking advantage of an absolute defensive neglect of the Portuguese coach’s team: Jovic equalized (85′), Ikone scored the winning goal (88′) and Roma lost in Florence, missing out on the Champions League and could be overtaken by Juventus if the bianconeri beat AC Milan this Sunday.
Source: Observadora
