Roma boss Jose Mourinho suffered another defeat at the hands of Bodo/Glimt on Thursday – and the result saw the Norwegian side join elite company in the Portuguese manager’s bad books.
Mourinho has not enjoyed his two trips to the Arctic Circle this season, with this week’s 2-1 defeat following an embarrassing 6-1 thrashing by Bodo/Glimt back in October. The freezing cold conditions and astroturf pitch has proved a problem for Roma, who will now have to overturn a one-goal deficit in the second leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-final next week.
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s brilliant strike from an acute angle put the away side ahead after Tammy Abraham had been denied one-on-one, but things unravelled after the break. Ulrik Saltnes equalised when his speculative shot went in via a massive deflection, before Hugo Vetlesen then converted a free header from a set piece in the 89th minute to seal the win for Bodo/Glimt.
Roma’s difficulty against Bodo/Glimt is nothing new, with the Norwegian side the only team to take points off Mourinho’s side in the group stages of Europe’s third tier competition this season. Kjetil Knutsen’s gutsy outfit became the first team in history to score six times against a Mourinho side in what was then his 1,008th match as a coach on October 21, and followed it up with a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Olimpico two weeks later.
Those three results mean that, remarkably, Bodo/Glimt now sit alongside European giants Real Madrid as the only club who have played at least three games against a Mourinho side without losing. The statistic, courtesy of journalist Michael Yokhin , underlines just how much the former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham boss has struggled against Bodo/Glimt.
In typical Mourinho fashion, the 59-year-old was quick to turn the spotlight onto other talking points in his post-match interview. He bemoaned the unlucky nature of the first goal his side conceded before blaming Bodo/Glimt’s astroturf pitch for injuring Roma defender Gianluca Mancini.
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“The two goals were from a set play and a deflection. We score a lot of goals from set play too, but it’s a good one to score, a bad one to concede. The first goal was ridiculous,” Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia. “To be honest, the thing that worries me the most is the injury for Mancini. It’s a concern, it’s something caused by playing on a plastic turf.”
He added: “We lost 2-1, we have the second leg to play at the Olimpico in front of our fans and I have no problem saying right now that I feel we are the favourites to reach the semi-final. I have total faith in my players, in the stadium, the support from our people. Obviously, Bodo/Glimt are a difficult team, but I also have faith we will have a good referee and assistant in the second leg.
“When we played in Rome against them, were two very clear penalties for us that the referee did not see, while today there were two moves that were flagged offside and the first half ended with a ridiculous situation as the offside flag was up on a throw-in, which shows you the level.”
