Jose Mourinho starts ban for insulting referee by watching Roma from press box

21 September 2023 , 20:07

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Jose Mourinho began his four-game touchline ban as Roma beat Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League (Image: Fabio Rossi/AS Roma via Getty Images)

Roma boss Jose Mourinho began his four-match ban for calling referee Anthony Taylor a "f****** disgrace" by watching his side beat Sheriff Tiraspol from the press box.

Mourinho was banned for four UEFA matches after being found guilty of "directing abusive language" at Taylor following Roma's Europa League final defeat to Sevilla last season. Footage showed Mourinho confronting Taylor in the car park where he called him a "f****** disgrace", while the official was also hounded by a group of angry Roma fans at Budapest airport.

As a result of the ban, Mourinho is not allowed on the touchline for the first four of Roma's six Europa League group games this season and he was spotted watching the match from the press box alongside technical coach Giovanni Cerra. Speaking before the game, Mourinho admitted his ban was a "problem".

"My suspension is clearly a problem because I can't communicate with the team," he said. "We tried to reduce the problem by working well together in training. Today's training was very positive.

"I cannot communicate with the team during the match so we'll see where Sheriff allow me to sit during the game. I believe in my team and my staff and this will lead us to success.

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"I can't speak to the team but from my seat, I will be able to celebrate the goals." And he was able to celebrate a win as Roma beat Sheriff 2-1 thanks to an own goal from Gaby Kiki and a second-half winner from Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku.

However, Mourinho was not happy with Roma's overall performance, admitting they only took the lead thanks to Kiki's "miracle" own goal on the stroke of half-time. "I didn't like the first half, we were too slow and weren't aggressive," he said after the game.

"We didn't play the way we had prepared, we didn't control the game. The first goal was a miracle, we didn't do anything to deserve the lead. We still lacked aggression, but we took control of the game. We deserved to win, which was the most important thing."

The Serie A side also suffered an injury scare, with midfielder Renato Sanches taken off in the first half with a muscle problem. "Unfortunately, this is Sanches, he's always at risk (of injury) and it's tough to understand," Mourinho added.

"Bayern Munich couldn't figure it out, neither did PSG and now we're struggling to understand it too. He's a great player, he needs to play—he had three days of rest and felt more than ready to play another 45 minutes today. However, he felt a tweak."

Matthew Cooper