Jose Mourinho admitted he “didn’t even know the name” of the Vitesse manager after his Roma side snuck past the Dutch side to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League.
Roma reached the final eight of Europe’s third-tier competition thanks to a 2-1 win on aggregate. But it was far from straightforward for the Italian side, who needed a 90th-minute goal from Tammy Abraham in the second leg on Thursday night to secure their passage to the next round.
Mourinho’s side came into the match with a 1-0 lead thanks to Sergio Oliveira’s goal in the Netherlands, but that advantage was wiped out when Maximillian Wittek netted after 62 minutes. Roma failed to have a single shot on target until, with extra-time beckoning, Abraham came up trumps in the final minute of normal time.