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.
Abraham has been in brilliant form for Roma this season since joining the club in a £34million deal from Chelsea in the summer. But his stooping header from Rick Karsdorp’s cushioned cross did not earn much praise from Mourinho, who instead went on one of his customary rants in which he said he didn’t know Vitesse boss Thomas Letsch’s name.
“This is a team with limitations at various levels, but if a few months ago everyone talked about us lacking determination, the ability to control a lead, the disaster against Juve, that we were winning 3-0 in Sofia and it ended 3-2, now people talk about our ability to resist pressure and score in the final minutes,” said Mourinho, who was booked by the referee for his touchline antics.
“It’s a trend at the moment, I think we’re now eight or nine games without defeat. I was glad that at 1-0 down, a situation of immense risk, a team might be tempted to wait and play extra time, but not us, we pushed to close the situation in regular time.
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“I must also say, Vitesse are really good. There’s this tendency only to criticise, but I didn’t even know the name of their coach – he’s excellent! If a team plays like Vitesse, it’s because their coach is excellent!
“It’s not that we played badly, it’s that they played really well. They had players like Bakker who were moving right, left, centre, causing huge problems.
“Obviously, I am not happy that we played today with many players who will also have to be there on Sunday while tonight Lazio are home smoking cigarettes with [Maurizio] Sarri, but it’s because Vitesse are really good!”
Vitesse are sixth in the Dutch Eredivisie, having won 12 of their 25 league matches so far this season. Mourinho faces a huge test next up, with the Rome derby against Lazio on Sunday.
Despite losing just one of their last 12 fixtures in all competitions, Roma are seventh in Serie A, eight points adrift of the top four. Victory over Lazio at home on Sunday could see Roma leapfrog their rivals into fifth place, depending on Atalanta’s result against Bologna.
