Jose Mourinho said Tuesday that “history does not play” as he prepares his Roma team to face Europa League specialists Sevilla in the final in Budapest.
The Italian side, who can finish no higher than fifth in Serie A, met the six-time winners at the Puskas Arena, just 12 months after they won the inaugural Europa Conference League.
Roma boss Mourinho said his team deserved to be in the showpiece match in the Hungarian capital after an arduous journey.
“We deserve to play this final, we have been saying that for a long time,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“It has been a long journey, different from our opponents, who dropped into this competition from the Champions League.”
Mourinho said he was aware of the Spanish team’s perfect record in finals in Europe’s second-tier competition — they have won all six they have played.
But the Portuguese coach downplayed the importance of that achievement.
“History does not play,” he said. “My colleague (Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar) thinks otherwise — I have respect for him.
“He believes that history makes Sevilla favorites, I respect that. We are in the final because we deserve to be here.
“They have a history that we don’t have, they have experience that we don’t boast. For them to play the final is a normal thing, for us it is an extraordinary event but tomorrow when the game starts we will be there. “
– Mourinho future? –
Mourinho left Inter Milan for Real Madrid shortly after winning the 2010 Champions League final and he was asked whether he could do the same this year, potentially taking the joy out of the event.
“There’s a big difference with the situation I had when I was at Inter,” he said, with speculation swirling about his future.
“I hadn’t actually signed a contract with Real Madrid at that stage even though the deal was done but at this moment in time I’ve had no contact with any other clubs and that’s why we’re talking about a completely different situation.
“But I’m not bothered about that. What matters is us, us, us and tomorrow it will be all about us and that’s how we want to play.”
Mourinho has five major continental titles to his name — two Champions League wins, two Europa League trophies and last year’s triumph in the Conference League.
If Roma win on Wednesday, Mourinho will pull clear of Giovanni Trapattoni, who also won five major European trophies in his coaching career.
The 60-year-old played down the idea that his extra experience at the European level compared to Mendilibar could be decisive.
“I’ve had more chances to play in Europe but we’re talking about two coaches who belong to the same generation, with the same amount of years of experience and the same kind of gray hair, so I think we are pretty much level , in a similar situation,” he said.
Mourinho, as he left the press conference, suggested that Argentine forward Paulo Dybala, who has been struggling with injury, could be fit enough to play for 20 to 30 minutes.
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