TIRANA (ALBANIA), May 26: José Mourinho had described Roma as “a giant club” lacking a trophy room to match the team’s social dimension and passionate fan base.
Well, the Giallorossi claimed their first European title in more than six decades Wednesday to crown Mourinho’s first season coaching in the Italian capital.
Nicolò Zaniolo scored in the first half, goalkeeper Rui Patrício made some big saves in the second and Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 to win the inaugural edition of the third-tier Europa Conference League.
“Today wasn’t work, this was history,” Mourinho said.
“Either you write it or you don’t and we wrote it. I’ve been at Roma for 11 months and I realized the moment I arrived what it meant – that they were waiting for this.”
It’s Roma’s first European trophy since winning the 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – a tournament considered to be the precursor to the UEFA Cup and Europa League. It’s also the first title of any kind for Roma since winning the 2008 Italian Cup.
“Now we’ve got to celebrate – a lot,” said Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Besides the few thousand Roma spectators inside the small National Arena in Tirana, 50,000 fans watched the game on giant screens at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. At the final whistle, the fans at the Olimpico celebrated on the pitch waving banners and chanting the team’s songs There were violent clashes in Tirana between fans of both clubs ahead of the final, with dozens deported back to Italy.
Inside the stadium, flares were thrown onto the field and stewards removed a few fans before kick-off after a fight.
Zaniolo’s goal started with a ball over the top from center back Gianluca Mancini that Zaniolo controlled with his chest. Zaniolo then pushed the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Justin Bijlow with the tip of his boot.
Zaniolo has been labeled Italy’s most talented young player but was held back by two serious knee injuries.
At 22 years and 327 days, Zaniolo became the youngest Italian player to score in a European final since Alessandro Del Piero’s goal at 22 years and 200 days for Juventus in a loss to Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 Champions League final.
After Zaniolo’s goal, Mourinho – realizing how long there was to go – gestured for his excited bench players to sit and calm down.
Feyenoord came out energized after the break and quickly hit the post twice, first with a close-range effort from Gernot Trauner then with a long-range blast from Tyrell Malacia that Rui Patricio palmed off the upright.
Mourinho extended his perfect record in European finals to five trophies in five matches, having also won the 2003 UEFA Cup and 2004 Champions League finals with Porto; the 2010 Champions League final with Inter Milan; and the 2017 Europa League final with Manchester United. (AP)
