AS ROMA manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that his side are not underdogs against Sevilla in tonight’s UEFA Europa League final at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Sevilla have won the competition six times, winning every final they have played in, although Mourinho is no slouch in European finals.
The Portuguese coach has also won every final he has reached: two in Champions League with Porto and Inter Milan, two in the Europa League with Porto and Manchester United, and last season’s Conference League final with Roma.
“I say history doesn’t play, my colleague Mendilibar thinks otherwise. He thinks Sevilla are favourites because history makes them favourites, it’s an opinion that must be respected,” he said during his pre-match press conference.
“We are in this final because we deserved it. They have a history and experience that we don’t have. For them, playing in a Europa League final has become a habit, for us it is an extraordinary event.
“For their fans travelling to a European final is the same as if they were travelling to Spain, for ours it is something historic.”
Mourinho, one of the most decorated coaches in European football, has had much more experience and success than Sevilla boss Jose Luis Mendilibar, but the Roma manager does not believe this could give his side the edge.
“They only have high level players, we have children who played in team B as they say in Spain,” he explained.
“I have had more opportunities than Mendilibar to play in Europe but we have the same years of experience and with the same gray hair. We are in a similar situation. The players are the same.
“They have more experience and more finals but it’s not like mine come here with nothing. We’ve worked together for two years, 30 European matches in two years and we’re not little angels.
“Of course. The journey has been long and different from our opponents because they come from the Champions League and we have played 14 games to get here and we undoubtedly deserve it.
“For this reason, since last week when we had Media Day, we can say that we deserve this final. Now the time is coming, for this we are working in the last two three days and we are in the running to fight for this title.”
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