Roma fell to Maradona with Giovanni Simeone’s goal in the final. Soon the press conference of Jose Mourinho.

Are Roma currently the main favorites in the Champions League race?
“When three games a week are played, it’s a squad race, not a team race. When we have the time and condition to prepare for a one-off match, it’s very difficult for us who don’t win that match. When we work on the defensive and offensive phases and you have players fresh, it’s very difficult for us not to win. When you play three times a week, the favorite teams are the ones that have the most staff. We grow as a team and we grow players who weren’t options before, guys like Bove and Volpato, over time the better squad. After the match I told the players to feed their souls with the performance we made, to look at the standings and the calendar ahead of us. We played on the pitches of Juve, Milan and then they have to play with us. Today, in the sadness of a result that I consider ultra-immersed, I am proud of this team”.

On Dybala’s race
“I don’t like making individual analyses, you have to look at the match we forced against Napoli. Because we set up this match, which Napoli didn’t want and neither did the crowd, in fact the stadium seemed empty. We pressed them a lot, they couldn’t to build. We must also give credit to the opponent, Kim is a fantastic player. This is the team that wins the Scudetto, when you have to win there is a star who accompanies you, of matches you have to lose and instead win. Today they have had this star, for this reason I think it will be the team that will win the Scudetto”.

Osimhen as Drogba?
“I told Osimhen that he shouldn’t dive. He scored a fantastic goal, he also scored a beautiful one in Rome. Comparison with Drogba? That’s the level though, Drogba didn’t dive.”

On his exchanges
“I’ve all made forced changes, the boys had asked me to change. Sure, it’s one thing to bring in Raspadori and Simeone, it’s another to have kids.”

23.35 Mourinho’s press conference ends