Mourinho presents the Europa League showdown with Helsinki
Roma manager Jose Mourinho spoke to the media ahead of the Giallorossi’s second Europa League match of the season, this time against Helsinki at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
When asked about the Finnish opponent, Mourinho commented: “The coach caught my attention. I like the team, I made an analysis of the match and I have been studying them since Monday after the match against Empoli.
“They are a well organized team, they have a beautiful style. Real Betis lost, but the result is unfair, which means the quality of northern football is changing. The teams are well organized, the technical level has improved, physically they are always there. The game is hard, maybe people think it’s easy, but it’s not.”
Mourinho also told about Zaniolo: “Tomorrow he will play.”
“Zaniolo was injured but wanted to return as soon as possible. He worked intensively with doctors and sports coaches, he wanted to be available to the team.”
– On Monday, he wanted to take a risk. I decided to change after 2-1, he will play tomorrow but I don’t know if he will have 90 minutes in the game. I am sure he will play at a high level, he has a lot of motivation and he is full of confidence. He was playing very well before the injury.”
On the importance of Lorenzo Pellegrini: “Last year I talked about wanting three versions of him at my disposal because he can cover three different roles very well.”
– He is a player who can do everything, it’s a shame that he only has one. We try to give him the role or roles he feels best in, it’s normal that he can’t do everything at once.
– The team is the most important thing, and Lorenzo knows as a captain that the team is the most important thing, he means everything to this team. He is a very important player for us.”
The boss also shared an update on Mady Camara: “He can’t play 90 minutes. When he arrived, he hadn’t played since the Slavia Prague game, and it had been a month. He wasn’t working at his best when he arrived because he had some physical problems.
“He will learn our way of playing and interpret the role of our midfielder, but he will play tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow Rui Patricio is playing, I don’t like competition. Svilar is a quality goalkeeper and he plays every now and then, but not tomorrow. That doesn’t mean he’ll play all six Europa League games.
“Bove is growing, I remember when I arrived he was still at Primavera. He’s a smart guy, takes things seriously and is getting better. He takes every opportunity that comes his way, whether it’s a starter or on the bench. I don’t know if he’ll develop like Zalewski last year , it’s hard to tell, but he’s growing.