Jose Mourinho fired a dig at his Manchester United successors after he led Roma’s Europa Conference League triumph.
The Italian giants celebrated their maiden European title after beating Feyenoord 1-0 in Tirana last night, with Nicolo Zaniolo’s fist half goal enough to get a win.
An emotional Mourinho was in tears after the game and was later doused in champagne as Roma’s players stormed his press conference and celebrated raucously with their manager.
The 59-year-old has slowly begun to rebuild his reputation after torrid spells in charge of Tottenham and United in the Premier League which both culminated in acrimonious departures.
Although Mourinho failed to help Roma qualify for next season’s Champions League, his first term at Roma ended on a high with the ‘Special One’ able to celebrate a fourth European title with a fourth different team.
Asked to assess the significance of Roma’s success compared to his previous triumphs, Mourinho claimed last night’s win ranked as a better achievement than winning the Europa League with Manchester United.
The Red Devils haven’t won a single trophy in the five years that have passed since that 2-0 victory over Ajax, with both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick failing to add silverware to their trophy cabinet, something that should be ‘natural’ for any United manager, according to Mourinho.
‘As you know I have won European competitions with four different clubs,’ said Mourinho in his post-match press conference.
‘Winning with Manchester United even though it was a Manchester United side that lacked the quality of proper United sides, winning with Manchester United is almost natural.
‘Winning the Champions League with Porto is not normal. Bringing joy to people winning the Champions League with Inter.
‘Inter is naturally a huge club, but I think it was 50 years since they had won the Champions League and bringing joy to the fans.
‘Today winning this competition brings joy to the people as well.’
