First coach to win European trophies with four different clubs
José Mourinho has become the first manager to win major European trophies with four different clubs after leading AS Roma to a 1-0 win over Feyenoord in the first UEFA Europa Conference League final.
A lone first half Nicolò Zaniolo goal was all the Italian side needed to secure the win, with Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patrício also playing a key role with two key saves to maintain the lead until the final whistle, despite their opponent’s pressure in the second half.
The win marked the fifth major European title for Mourinho, who had already won the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League with FC Porto, having repeated his Champions League success years later with Inter Milan. His latest European silverware had come in 2017 when he led Manchester United to a UEFA Europa League trophy.
Overcome by emotion, the ‘Special One’ said after the match that he and his team had made history and that he plans to continue in Rome.
“There are so many things going through my head. So many things at the same time. I’ve been at Roma for 11 months, I realised the moment I arrived what it meant, they were waiting for this,” said Mourinho.
“As I told the lads in the locker room in Turin, we did what we needed to do, qualify for the Europa League. We had great work all season. This was not work tonight, this was history. We had to write history. We wrote it,” he said.
“The Conference League is a competition that we had the sensation from the start we could win, but it got a stronger competition when the Europa League teams came in: Leicester, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord. But we were counting on it, we could’ve had a few more points in Serie A, but we put so much into this competition,” added the 59-year-old coach.
“Now I am staying, there are no doubts. Even if some rumours emerge, I only want to remain at Roma. We must understand what our owners, who are fantastic people, want to do next season, because this is history.”
