The final of the Italian Cup continues tonight with the duels of Roma – Cremonese and Atalanta – Sassuolo. Both Roma and Atalanta have big ambitions in this year’s edition of the national cup. Gialorossi want to win their tenth Italian Cup, and Gasperini dreams of the first coaching trophy in his career. However, today’s matches are overshadowed by Jose Mourinho’s very tense tussle with Roma owner Dan Friedkin over the (non) extension of his contract that expires in June this year. Believe it or not, Cremonese have beaten Roma in their last two away games at Olimpico, once in Serie A, once in the Coppa Italia. Fortunately for the Giallorossi, coach Davide Balardini is no longer sitting on the bench of the team from Cremona. Ballardini managed to beat the Portuguese even when Jose was in charge of Inter, who won the “treble”.🗣️ Jose Mourinho on why he wasn’t mentioned in Arsene Wenger’s book:”Because he never beat me, You are not going to do a chapter about 12 or 14 matches and never win one so why should he speak about me in his book? A book is a thing to make you happy, make you proud so I… pic.twitter.com/THafgI8BSU— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) January 3, 2024 Roma have never lost against teams from Serie B in regular 90 minutes (16 wins and six draws), however, they were eliminated on two occasions: in 1988 by Atalanta and in 2015 by Spezia on penalties. The Italian Cup round of 16 match comes at a very critical moment for Roma and its coach. The Friedkin family remained cold to Mourinho’s “roll call”. General manager Thiago Pinto has already started looking for a new job as his contract expires in June. Rumors are circulating in Rome that the Friedkins have no intention of extending Mourinho’s contract, that is, that only a place in the Champions League, either through Serie A or the Europa League, could change their minds. Mourinho does not want to be a “prisoner” of such an approach, he wants to plan for the long term.Mourinho: ‘I don’t know if I’ll stay in Roma’The Friedkins are currently in a better position. No big European team is interested in Mourinho, and the Portuguese, it seems, still does not want to leave the main football stage for a better-paid, but alternative one, like Saudi Arabia. During the holidays, Mourinho sent a message to the players and his staff in his style: alone against all. Many noticed that Mourinho left out the club in his congratulatory message, either by accident or on purpose. He explicitly defined who he means when he says “we”: he, the players, the staff and the fans. The managers, that is, the club, are left out.No way through! Roma fans rage at the very notion a Juventus legend might join themThe Portuguese expert is right when he reminds that it was already known this summer that Ndicka would go to the African Cup, that Kumbula was injured, just as everyone has known since September that the return of Smalling is a big puzzle. Also, Mancini has been playing with a pubalgia problem for two months. They did not act preventively in the club. Roma has only 1,800,000 euros available for reinforcements. Commissions for managers are also included in that figure. In other words, Roma can only take a footballer who would come without compensation. A less likely alternative is for the Romans to sell one of their players in January and immediately reinvest the money. An additional motive for Mourinho tonight is the desire to be the first coach of Roma to lead the Giallorossi to the final after 2013, (where they were defeated by Lazio) and to try to win the national cup after 16 years.COPPA ITALIA1/8 FINALSTuesdayMilan – Cagliari 4-1 (2-0)/Jovic 29, 42, Traore 50, Leao 90+1 – Azzi 88/Wednesday20:00: (1.55) Atalanta (4.10) Sassuolo (6.00)23:00: (1.37) Roma (4.80) Cremonese (9.00)Thursday23:00: (1.33) Juventus (5.10) Salernitana (9.50)***odds are subject to change***
