Jose Mourinho sets sights on another European crown in remarkable managerial journey

Roma boss will be eyeing history when his team take on Feyenoord in inaugural Europa Conference League final

Roma' head coach Jose Mourinho passes on instructions to midfielder Jordan Veretout during the Europa Conference League semi-final second leg against Leicester City at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, on May 5, 2022. AFP

Roma coach Jose Mourinho reacts after the final whistle. Roma's 1-0 win secured a place in the May 25 Europa Conference League final. AFP

Roma's Portuguese head coach Jose Mourinho. AFP

Tammy Abraham and Sergio Oliveira of AS Roma celebrate. Getty Images

Tammy Abraham of AS Roma battles for possession with James Justin and Jonny Evans of Leicester City. Getty Images

Roma's Tammy Abraham celebrates after the match. Reuters

Roma forward Tammy Abraham in action. AFP

Roma forward Tammy Abraham fights for the ball with Leicester's Jonny Evans and Wesley Fofana. AFP

Wesley Fofana of Leicester City looks dejected at the final whistle. Getty Images

Ayoze Perez of Leicester City battles for possession with Gianluca Mancini of Roma. Getty Images

Nicolo Zaniolo of Roma is tackled by Jonny Evans of Leicester City. Getty Images

Should Roma become the first champions of European football’s newest senior competition on Wednesday, keep an eye on any hand signals their head coach makes after the final whistle. Jose Mourinho has a history of counting up his honours on his fingers, and making sure his audience gets the message.

He did it more than once when he worked in the Premier League, reminding, with three fingers pointed skywards, that he has been not only the ‘Special One’ in English football, but the Special Two, and the Special Three - a Premier League-winning manager in 2005 and 2006 with Chelsea and, on returning there, a third time in 2015.

He won a pair of league titles each with Porto and Internazionale, too, and a Spanish Liga while in charge of Real Madrid.

But it is his record European competition that is ready for the full spread-out hand, the signal that he will have won five major Uefa trophies, if Roma live up to their billing as favourites in the inaugural Europa Conference League final against Feyenoord in Tirana.

Victory would give Mourinho another rare distinction: Only two coaches have collected a three-strong collection of different possible Uefa prizes. They were Giovanni Trappatoni and Udo Lattek, in the era when there was a European Cup-Winners Cup running alongside the Uefa Cup - now the Europa League - and the principal tournament, the European Cup, or Champions League.

Roma 1-0 Leicester player ratings

ROMA RATINGS: Rui Patricio 6 – Didn’t have a save to make until the 79th minute, when he first made a comfortable stop to deny a Maddison free-kick, and then reacted to deny Iheanacho’s curling effort. Reuters

Roger Ibanez 7 – His firmness in the tackle encapsulated Roma’s miserly defensive approach, which gave Leicester very little room to manoeuvre in the attacking third. EPA

Chris Smalling 8 – Was a threat at both ends early on; making a crucial block to deny Tielemans in the opening minutes and heading narrowly over from a corner at the other. Headed over again in the second half. Did a brilliant job at keeping Jamie Vardy quiet. Getty Images

Gianluca Mancini 7 – An immense defensive performance from the 26-year-old, complete with his customary yellow card. Getty Images

Rick Karsdorp 7 – Brilliant on Roma’s right-hand side, forming part of an intense resistance that kept Leicester at bay and restricted the visitors to long-range efforts. Getty Images

Bryan Cristante 7 – Enjoyed a fascinating tussle with James Maddison, and he gave the Leicester schemer very little time and space on the ball. Reuters

Sergio Oliveira 6 – Saw a late effort saved by Schmeichel, which gifted his side a corner in the dying moments of the game. Getty Images

Lorenzo Pellegrini 7 – Had Roma’s first attempt on goal with a free-kick and forced Schmeichel down to his right. Came close again with a half volley, but once again found Schmeichel in his way. Linked well with Abraham from set pieces. AFP

Nicola Zalewski 8 – A lively and consistent performance throughout, and he was cheered every time he touched the ball in the opening exchanges. Roma tried to get him the ball as much as possible, with good reason. Was given a standing ovation when he was replaced. AFP

Nicolo Zaniolo 7 – The forward was an obvious target for Roma, and his side’s quick passing enabled him to get forward. He was a driving force all evening, though his closest effort was blocked by Fofana. EPA

Tammy Abraham 9 – The former Chelsea man combined some good centre-forward play with neat touches throughout. He climbed highest to meet Pellegrini’s outswinging corner to head the hosts into the lead, his ninth goal of the competition, and his 25th in total this season. Getty Images

SUBS: Jordan Veretout (Zaniolo, 78) N/A – With Zaniolo tiring, Mourinho added a more defensive presence to try and close the game out. AFP

Matias Vina (Zalewski, 84) N/A – Came on the left flank and his fresh legs added some stability late on. Reuters

Eldor Shomurodov (Abraham, 88) – His first contribution was a foul on Amartey, which was the perfect way to slow the game down. AP Photo

LEICESTER RATINGS: Kasper Schmeichel 6 – Made two saves to deny Pellegrini in the first half but could do little to stop Abraham’s powerful header. Was quiet thereafter. Getty Images

Ricardo Pereira 4 – Was guilty of losing out to Abraham on the opening goal, though in his defence, given he’s 15cm shorter than Abraham, he perhaps shouldn’t have been marking him. AFP

Jonny Evans 5 – Held the back line well but didn’t have much to do. AFP

Roma's British forward Tammy Abraham (L) fights for the ball with Leicester's French]defender Wesley Fofana during the UEFA Conference League semi-final second leg football match between AS Roma and Leicester City at The Olympic Stadium in Rome, on May 5, 2022. (Photo by Isabella BONOTTO / AFP)

James Justin 6 – Had very little opportunity to get forward as Roma dominated the flanks, until Leicester moved to a back three. Had to wait until the 70th minute for some space, but his cross was too high for Vardy. PA

Youri Tielemans 5 – A very quiet evening in which he did little wrong, he simply couldn’t influence the game at all. PA

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 5 – Left his shooting boots at home. In the first half, he won the ball back on one occasion after giving it away, and sent an effort narrowly over the bar. In the second, he had one run at goal before dragging an effort wide of the post. PA

James Maddison 5 – Was forced to drop deep to get the ball, but he was targeted throughout and had very little time to create. Had one forward run just before half-time, and a free-kick after the break, which was comfortably saved. Getty Images

Ademola Lookman 5 – Had to wait until the 43rd minute to get his first bit of space in the Roma half, but even then, he was closed down pretty quickly. Substituted at the break. EPA

Harvey Barnes 4 – Saw very little of the ball in the first half and was on the periphery throughout. Couldn’t seem to get hold of the ball. Getty Images

Jamie Vardy 4 – Got very little change from Smalling, who made it an isolated evening for the Foxes striker. He had one sight of goal all evening, and his subsequent shot was blocked by Abraham. AFP

SUBS: Daniel Amartey (Lookman, 46) 4 – Guilty of playing the ball sideways or backwards when what Leicester needed was forward impetus. AP Photo

Kelechi Iheanacho (Barnes, 46) 5 – Forced Patricio into a save with a left-footed effort, but he couldn’t trouble the Roma custodian. Getty Images

Timothy Castagne (Pereira, 69) 6 – Made a good block to deny Zalewski 10 minutes after coming on. AFP

Ayoze Perez (Dewsbury-Hall, 77) N/A – Showed some neat touches as he looked to change the game but was unable to open Roma’s back line. Getty Images

Mourinho could join them at the first opportunity within the 22-year era in which he has been a head coach. The Cup-Winners Cup was discontinued in 1999, two years after a young, bumptious, Portuguese had been part of the staff of a Barcelona team, who won that competition. Mourinho was only 34 then, and an assistant to Barca’s then manager Bobby Robson.

He began his own personal sweep of European trophies not long after, guiding Porto to triumph in the Uefa Cup at the end of what was Mourinho’s first full season coaching a club.

More astonishing was what he achieved a year later, in 2004, winning the Champions League with Porto. It remains the last time a club from outside the strongest four leagues in Europe - England, Spain, Germany or Italy - has lifted club’s football’s most prestigious trophy. For that, it may still rank as the finest of Mourinho’s many achievements.

As if to prove he could do it elsewhere, he won his second Champions League with Inter, part of their 2010 treble, and the 2017 Europa League with Manchester United, a highlight in a mixed, often fractious time at Old Trafford.

Five years on, Mourinho cuts a more contented figure than he did at his 2018 United departure, or during an often abrasive, trophy-barren 18 months at Tottenham Hotspur, the job he left shortly before being taken on by Roma ahead of last summer.

Win on Wednesday, albeit in a competition that ranks as Uefa’s third tier, and Roma can say Mourinho has fulfilled an important part of why they hired him: He is the ‘born winner’ they needed.

There have been some bumps along the way. Roma have just finished sixth in Serie A, which means Europa League, not Champions League, football next season.

This European campaign had its low moments. In the group stage, Roma for one chilly evening in Norway looked like fourth-tier imposters in the third-tier Conference League, losing 6-1 to Bodo-Glimt.

Mourinho had rested senior players; some of the understudies he had chosen in their places were publicly criticised by him, and he implied the club had not supported him in the transfer window. Yet Roma spent more than any other Italian club last summer.

A heavy slice of that spending went on Tammy Abraham, signed for €36m from Chelsea, a purchase that Mourinho approved. It proved a fine judgment.

Abraham, 24, has won the hearts of Roma fans and thrived in his first season abroad. He has 27 goals across competitions, many of them vital on the road to Tirana.

He struck the winner against Vitesse in the last-16 round, the equaliser against Bodo-Glimt when Roma met the Norwegians again in the knockout phase and trailed from the first leg, Abraham showing the way to an emphatic 4-0 victory in Rome. He was the match-winner in the semi-final against Leicester City.

“Finals like this are what you dream of as a kid growing up,” said Abraham ahead of the meeting with Feyenoord, easily resisting any idea that the Conference League is a lesser competition.