Jose Mourinho has taken yet another swipe at former employers Manchester United after winning the UEFA Europa Conference League with Roma.
The 'Special One' guided the Giallorossi to glory in the inaugural edition of Europe's third-rate competition, marking Mourinho's fifth continental final triumph with a fourth club. His previous victory came as United boss in 2017, leading the Red Devils to the Europa League for what remains their most recent trophy before a five-year trophy drought, the club's worst barren run in 48 years.
Having edged past Dutch opponents Feyenoord with a 1-0 win in Wednesday's nail-biting Conference League final, Mourinho made a dig at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, the men who have succeeded him at Old Trafford and failed to match his tally of three trophies in two-and-a-half volatile years in Manchester.
"As you know I have won European competitions with four different clubs," Roma manager explained post-match. "Winning with Manchester United even though it was a Manchester United side that lacked the quality of proper United sides, winning with Manchester United is almost natural.
"Winning the Champions League with Porto is not normal. Bringing joy to people by winning the Champions League with Inter. Inter is naturally a huge club, but I think it was 50 years since they had won the Champions League and brought joy to the fans. Today winning this competition brings joy to the people as well."
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Listing success at his ex-sides, Mourinho went on to say: "I feel like a Romanista, but that might be my way of working. I am a Porto fan, an Inter [Milan] fan, a Chelsea fan, I am crazy about Real Madrid, I am now a Roma fan, I belong to all those clubs because we had these moments together."
The Portuguese then added as the latest in a series of swipes at the Red Devils since his unceremonious sacking in December 2018: "The great thing about my career is that, aside from the Europa League with Manchester United, doing it with Porto, Inter and Roma is very, very, very special."
It will now be new United manager Erik ten Hag's weighty task to bring silverware back to Old Trafford, a challenge which the 51-year-old - who led Ajax to three Eredivisie titles in as many completed seasons with the Amsterdam giants - is relishing.
"It's all about winning titles," Ten Hag declared in his first interview with manutd.com. "When you start a project, what we did in Ajax, the project was I had to make Ajax Europe-proof, and we wanted to be back on top in Holland. When I started PSV was on top, and we changed it.
"In the last four years, we were the number one continually. I'm happy and satisfied that we achieved that purpose. It was important also to finish in my last season as number one. There was PSV and also Feyenoord who were huge competitors, but finally we won the battle and I'm very happy about that."
