On Wednesday, Jose Mourinho, known for his unbeaten record in European finals, had to settle for a runners-up medal as Sevilla defeated AS Roma 4-1 in a penalty shootout. This victory marked Sevilla’s record-extending seventh triumph in the competition.
Despite the match ending in a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes, neither team could secure a decisive goal during extra time. In the shootout, Sevilla ruthlessly capitalized on their opportunities, with Gonzalo Montiel replicating his World Cup final heroics for Argentina against France by scoring the winning spot kick.
It was an extremely tough match for last year’s Conference league winners. AS Roma were attempting to clinch an European title for a 2nd year in a row but Sevilla dented all of their hopes.
Jose Mourinho in his illustrious career had never seen the face of loss in an European final ever. It all started in the 2002/03 season when he led FC Porto to UEFA Champions League glory followed by a UEFA Europa League the following season.
Then in 2010-11, Inter Milan became Champions League winners by defeating Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona. After a 6 year wait, Jose Mourinho helped Manchester United become UEFA Europa League winners. And it was only last year that he helped AS Roma become UEFA Europa Conference League winners – the club’s very first European title.
This year he had a wonderful opportunity to see Roma secure UEFA Champions League qualifications. However, they suffered a loss on penalties in a match where they only had 33% of possession and only had 4 shots on target.
Watch Jose Mourinho give his Europa League runners-up medal to fans
The Portuguese head coach of Roma was extremely angry after losing his first ever European final. During a post match interview, Mourinho stated that he doesn’t like keeping silver medals with him, when he was asked the reason why he gave the medal away.
“That’s what I did, I don’t want silver medals. I don’t keep silver medals, so I gave it away. I have to fight for these lads and therefore not say objectively that I will remain.” – Mourinho told the media
