Roma manager Jose Mourinho attended his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s Europa League match with Salzburg.
The Special One spoke to the media after the team landed in Austria earlier this afternoon.
“From an attitude point of view, it doesn’t seem to me that there are any teams in Serie A with a similar profile to Salzburg’s.” said Mourinho. “Obviously we have done our homework on them, but you never know what the team will do until you’re on the field.”
“Their gameplan is not clear. We can only guess by looking at what they did before playing against us. We have seen it all. In the Austrian championship, but also the Champions League matches are a good reference. Their group was difficult. For me the strength of this team is the quality of its players.”
“Our goal is to win tomorrow, I won’t go any further than that, I will never say it’s okay to lose 2-0 so we have chances to come back at the Olimpico. The match that awaits us is difficult and we want to win, there are still 24 of us in this tournament and we are very far away from the final. The goal is to advance to the next round. There is the possibility that the same players will play, maximum one-two changes tomorrow,” he added.
“Wijnaldum? He won’t start tomorrow. First we have to see if he can get some minutes tomorrow night like he did against Lecce. He’s been excellent in training, the best and his return is without a doubt crucial for us.”
“Karsdorp? He made the step I asked of him, it’s the first time he’s been called up because he wasn’t in the physical condition to be called up before. From the point of view of the personal situation, there hasn’t been any issues between us since December.”
“The problem started in Sassuolo, he played with an attitude that I didn’t like, but calling him a traitor, the word itself was too heavy and then it seemed like it was all over between us.”
“Apart from that day, we have always had a positive relationship, there were many lies, people who spoke without knowing what took place between us. I’m glad he’s back, he’s an important addition to the team.”
“We don’t have many options, the fact that we have him may mean that Zalewski may not have to play on the right, El Shaarawy can now play up front.. He said he wants to play for Roma, help his teammates, this is very important. He has always been loved by everyone in the dressing room, I’m glad he’s here.”
