20 September 2023 , 23:35
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Jose Mourinho is still adamant that Roma did not lose the Europa League final against Sevilla.
The record books state that Sevilla won a record seventh Europa League title in Budapest on May 31 after beating Roma 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. But the nature of the defeat left the Roma manager utterly furious and, despite over three months passing since then, he has still not calmed down.
Mourinho was handed a four-match ban by UEFA for his protestations after the feisty final, which saw 13 yellow cards handed out by English referee Anthony Taylor. He was caught on film confronting Taylor in the car park where he told him he was a "f****** disgrace", while the referee was also hounded by Roma fans at the airport.
The ban means Mourinho will be absent from the first four games of Roma’s Europa League campaign this season, which gets underway against Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night. Nevertheless, he is still steadfast in his refusal to accept the result from the final, which was his first defeat in six UEFA competition showpieces.
“It is a different season to the last, a different competition,” he said in a pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “I will also continue to say until the bitter end that we did not lose that final in Budapest. Every time people talk to me about it, I will tell them that we did not lose.
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“Having said that, today we start from scratch and the first objective is to qualify for the next phase. Last year we started the group with a defeat and that complicated matters, having to go through the play-offs, so winning the group would obviously be important.”
Jose Mourinho was furious with Anthony Taylor during the Europa League final (PA)As well as banning Mourinho, Roma were fined €50,000 (£43,000) and banned from selling tickets to their away supporters for their next Europa League trip of this season following the events in Budapest.
They were also slapped with a €5,000 (£4,300) fine for the "improper conduct of the team" during their penalty shootout defeat to Sevilla which saw their staff, players and substitutes shown a total of eight yellow cards.
Mourinho was still running hot in his press conference after Gonzalo Montiel hit the match-winning penalty for Sevilla. "The truth is that we are all very sad, with or without crying, the truth is this," he said.
"We will get home dead of tiredness and dead because of tonight’s unfair refereeing display. Great game, great final, intense, gritty, vibrant, but the referee seemed Spanish. Too many yellow cards for us then he doesn’t give [Erik] Lamela his second yellow, allowing him to take a penalty in the end.”