Roma have earned three points in the opening three games in the Europa League Group C, winning one match and losing two. They are currently six points behind leaders Real Betis and they travel to Spain. If they lose, they will effectively be eliminated and will have to fight for a place in the Conference League, which they won last season. Certainly not the scenario Jose Mourinho wanted at the start of the season, and certainly not with the signings he got at the end of the transfer window.José Mourinho: “For the media everything is about shots, stats, but what we really need is goals otherwise we don’t win. If you won games based on the number of chances we would be sitting at the top of the league table.” pic.twitter.com/sVYTUH01rV— IM (@Iconic_Mourinho) October 12, 2022 But Paulo Dybala is injured, Wijnaldum is as well and it’s been ideal ground for Mourinho to moan and use excuses. And the Portuguese even tried to make a joke about his excuses, claiming he doesn’t ’cry as he used to’, but still mentioned his team’s budget as one of the reasons for bad results.“When we talked about the World Cup four or five years ago, everyone knew there would be a lot more injuries this season and now we are living through it. I learned to cry less than I did before. I learned to live with the reality of things. You can say that there are too many matches and the rich clubs are privileged. There are the rich, the poor and the less rich. The poor play once a week, the rich can play every day rotating the squad and the less rich are in more trouble, because they play as often as the rich clubs, but without the options to make changes. That is the situation I am in” said Mourinho in a press conference.EUROPA LEAGUE: Late disappointment for Mourinho’s WolfessKilometers away from Roma, Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini probably knew what Mourinho was gonna say, so he immideatelly added additional pressure on his colleague.“Surely, losing a player like Dybala always has an impact. However, Roma don’t depend on one single player. Surely, they don’t depend on one player. I am sure they will have a strong replacement. It happened the same to us with Fekir, but it’s not an excuse. Fekir is recovering from an injury, but there isn’t a date set for his return. He is not available for the match against Roma and the next one on Sunday. I expect a team with the same characteristics, I think it will be a balanced match but we deserved to win in Rome because we spent more time in their half. Mourinho’s teams have intensity and do well with counter-attacks” Pellegrini said at the press conference as per LaRoma24.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – GROUP STAGERound 4Thursday19:45: (7.75) Bodo (4.50) Arsenal (1.51)19:45: (4.80) AEK Larnaca (3.60) Fenerbahce (1.89)19:45: (4.40) Dynamo Kyiv (3.60) Rennes (1.94)19:45: (2.65) Betis (3.30) Roma (2.90)19:45: (2.50) St.Gilloise (3.35) Braga (3.10)19:45: (1.63) Feyenoord (4.20) Midtjylland (6.00)19:45: (3.80) Nantes (3.50) Freiburg (2.14)19:45: (1.91) Qarabag (3.60) Olympiakos (4.70)22:00: (2.55) Ferencvaros (3.30) Crvena Zvezda (3.00)22:00: (1.27) PSV (7.00) Zurich (10.5)22:00: (1.63) Ludogorets (4.10) Helsinki (6.25)22:00: (1.40) Union Berlin (5.10) Malmo (10.0)22:00: (1.13) Man.Utd. (11.0) Omonia (19.0)22:00: (1.27) Sociedad (6.25) Sheriff Tiraspol (13.0)22:00: (1.53) Lazio (4.50) Sturm (7.25)22:00: (3.50) Trabzon (3.50) Monaco (2.24)*** odds are subject to change***
