Jose Mourinho said his team’s 4-3 comeback against Roma in the second match of the Champions League group stage showed the importance of having six points, while criticising the decision to inform Vini Jr. of a four-match suspension only two hours before kick-off.
Speaking at the Stadio Olimpico, Mourinho accepted responsibility for the team’s poor first half but credited his players for recovering after the interval.
“The coach is responsible for the poor first half, and the players are responsible for the excellent second half,” he said. “Football is a 90-minute game and, at the highest level, it is strategic. Opponents matter and they play, and today’s opponent was a very strong and formidable team.”
Mourinho said Roma had exhausted themselves trying to maintain their level and explained the tactical problems caused by Roma’s wide players.
“I knew we were running out of steam. It’s impossible to play 90 minutes at their pace,” he said. “In the first half they overwhelmed us and surprised us with Soule’s wide positioning. Cucurella couldn’t track Wesley and was constantly facing two against one.
“In the second half we reorganised, and when we were finally settled we conceded a goal we shouldn’t have. Then came the third. If they had scored four or five, people would have said I was crazy. We won 4-3, and they are saying I played terribly in the first half with the team I selected. That’s football.”
Mourinho said the result left Inter and Roma, whom he described as Italy’s two strongest teams, level on six points.
“The league is the league and the Champions League is the Champions League,” he said. “Six points and six points is half the battle for qualification. Against Benfica, after four matches last year, we had four points and we qualified. It’s not over yet, but we already have six points. There are six matches left and we have played against the two top Italian teams. Very good for us.”
Mourinho criticises Vini Jr. suspension timing
Mourinho questioned why Vini Jr. was told shortly before the match that he had been suspended for four games.
“Do you think it is normal for a player on a Spanish team, about to play an important match for Spanish football, to find out two hours beforehand that he has been suspended for four games?” he asked. “Couldn’t they have done it now or tomorrow morning? We found out on the bus, almost as we were arriving at the stadium.”
He said the situation was now “out in the open”, using a Portuguese expression about a hidden cat whose tail is visible.
“Two hours before a Spanish team’s match, a player finds out he has been suspended for four games, and you ruin a player. It’s not normal, but now it seems normal to me because the cat isn’t hiding anymore.”
Mourinho defended Vini Jr.’s first-half performance, saying Gasperini’s tactics had created difficult situations on the flank.
“He put Wesley and Soule wide with Cucurella,” Mourinho said. “Vini Jr. against Wesley is very difficult because Wesley is a fantastic player. They crushed us down that side with two-on-one situations. Mancini would also come out sometimes, and they created three-on-one situations.
“In the second half I gave Vini Jr. the freedom to play on the other side. Diomande has a different defensive role, and Wesley was effectively neutralised offensively by Diomande. Vini Jr. lost a ball he shouldn’t have lost, but I make mistakes too. It’s a shame the mistake came when he was improving and was happy again. It’s a shame he is out.”
Mourinho said it was understandable that Vini Jr. was unhappy about being substituted, although he did not approve of players throwing bottles or kicking objects.
“It is normal for an important player to be frustrated,” he said. “What matters most to me is that he was very happy with his team’s victory after the game.”
He also rejected the idea that news of the suspension had necessarily affected Vini Jr.’s display.
“A player tries to block out feelings and emotions. I have also had to do it, to play here against my people, in my stadium, with people I love. A player needs that ability, and I think he did it quite well.
“The difficulties he had in the first half were a positive result of Gasperini, who did a great job of making things difficult for us. They are not Vini Jr.’s fault; they are Gasperini’s, and he is a very high-quality coach.”
Tactical changes turned game around
Mourinho said he would not claim to have planned a precise comeback from 3-1 down, but believed his substitutes could change the game in the final 20 minutes.
“If we had started with the same 11 players we finished with, I think they would have scored five because it would have been impossible to maintain such a high-intensity team,” he said.
“There are moments and moments. Sometimes the coach is an idiot because he thinks strategically poorly. Other times he is very good because he thinks it through well. I’m not going to be a genius and say I had everything planned to go from 3-1 to 4-3. It’s not true.
“But I genuinely thought that in the last 20 minutes I had changes I could make that could change things.”
Mourinho said Mancini’s man-to-man defensive role made him vulnerable to a booking and explained the depth of Roma’s defensive options.
“I told the players it is very difficult for someone like Mancini, who plays man-to-man, not to get a yellow card. When he does, he either stays on the field with a yellow card or he is substituted.
“They have five defenders and another five on the bench because of the way they play. With man-to-man football, there are many situations where a player pushes or commits a foul and receives a yellow card. Physically, Hermoso takes you down.
“With Diomande, and when Hermoso was running out of gas, Endrick came on. Give me some credit too.”
Mourinho also criticised the scheduling of Valencia’s match after a Wednesday night in Athens.
“At the very least, it shows a lack of respect,” he said. “Playing in Athens on Wednesday night, arriving in Madrid probably at 5am, and then playing in Valencia on Saturday, before an international break, makes absolutely no sense.
“They make you play in Valencia on Saturday, which is an extremely difficult match. I don’t think it’s innocent. I don’t buy the usual excuses because I’ve been in football for 25 years. Real Madrid fans aren’t stupid, and I’ll do everything I can to open people’s eyes.”
Mourinho backs Espi to earn more opportunities
Mourinho praised Espi after the striker’s emergence as an alternative to Mbappe.
“When the possibility of Gonzalo leaving arose a player I really liked, but it was a fantastic deal for Real Madrid the club’s management presented me with three names, and one of them was Espi,” he said.
“Whoever brought him in did their job very well. After seeing him play, I always thought he would be an important player for us.
“For a striker, being on the same roster as Mbappe is not easy. Kylian is a crucial player, and it is difficult to rotate with someone of his quality. It is very difficult to say, ‘Mbappe won’t play against Sevilla, Espi will.’ I won’t do that, but opportunities keep coming. When he performs as he always has, it is natural for him to play more and become an increasingly viable option.”
