He won the Conference League last spring, the Europa League six years ago, and no matter how successful he was in second-tier competitions, the impression is that Jose Mourinho would like to try at least one more time in the Champions League. With this Roma team, and with his declining football tactics, it’s certainly not possible for Mourinho to win it, but it’s where he belongs. And Giallorossi are in contention for the Champions League spot in Serie A. After a win over Juventus, they won 2-0 against Real Sociedad in Europa League yesterday, and Mourinho had to make some tactical choices since his squad is thin, and he is battling on two fronts. So, he brought in forward Stephan El Shaarawy to play left wing back instead of Leonardo Spinazzola. It was a strange decision, but it paid dividends, since ‘Pharaoh’ scored. After the match, Mourinho tried to explain he needs more strikers, as his only real threat is Paulo Dybala (12 goals in 26 appearances), who had one assist last night. 8 – #ASRoma have won eight of their nine home games in 2023 in all competitions, only failing to keep the clean sheet in the lost game in the process (1-2 v Cremonese in Coppa Italia). Olimpico.#RomaRealSociedad #UEL pic.twitter.com/3mQLB9aq7c— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) March 9, 2023 “It was a strategic and tactical choice. It wasn’t easy to choose because I only had a striker on the bench given that Ola Solbakken is not on the Europa League list. Against PSG, Bayern had Gnabry, Mane and Sane on the bench, just one of them would be enough for me. Like this, I could have replaced Dybala and perhaps score one more goal” jokingly explained the Portuguese tactician. Paulo Dybala, the cheapest forward in EuropeMourinho was short of saying that 2-0 is a good result, but was obviously happy with his team’s display. “I liked the organization, the effort and the empathy on the pitch. We all helped each other. It’s hard to play against teams who field a midfield diamond. We faced it against Empoli and RB Salzburg, but it’s difficult. We needed a strong mentality because when you don’t have the ball for a long time, mentality is crucial. We controlled the match despite having less possession. This result is good only if we don’t concede three goals there in Spain. I will never say it’s a good result after the first leg” said Mourinho. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7088003##
