Mourinho wins the inaugural Europa Conference League

 

Jose Mourinho has become the first manager to win the inaugural Europa Conference League.

The Special One secured Roma their first trophy in over a decade. They set the record by beating Feyenoord in the inaugural Europa Conference League final in Tirana.

This means Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge of the Italians ended with a trophy.

The only goal of the game came through Nicolo Zaniolo, who chested down Gianluca Mancini’s lofted pass and best goalkeeper Justin Bijlow with a clever flick.

Mourinho is not a novice in European success, having won the Champions League, Europa League, and the Uefa Cup before with Porto, Inter Milan, and Manchester United.

He is also the first manager to win all of Uefa’s major European trophies.

Despite being criticised after Roma were embarrassed 6-1 in Norway by Bodo/Glimt in the group stage last October, the Portuguese still led his team to victory.

He has never lost in any European finals, having now overseen five.

Feyenoord began their campaign in the qualifying rounds back in July. They were denied an equaliser when Rui Patricio tipped Tyrell Malacia’s attempt onto the bar soon after Mancini inadvertently hit his own post while trying to make a clearance.

After the final whistle,  Mourinho was mobbed by his backroom staff, and Roma’s players celebrated in front of their travelling support in Albania.

The last trophy won by Mourinho was the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017.

Man of the match, Chris Smalling, who was part of the United side that defeated Ajax in Stockholm five years ago, produced another top performance.

The 32-year-old Englishman made a couple of crucial blocks in the early stages of the second half when Feyenoord were looking for an equaliser.

He also did a fine job keeping Cyriel Dessers- the competition’s leading scorer – quiet.

 

Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed