Roma manager Jose Mourinho discussed his failed attempt to convince Paulo Dybala to stay behind and rest rather than travel with the team to Prague.
After playing 98 minutes against Lecce, Mourinho was hoping to allow Dybala to rest in Roma’s upcoming Europa League affair with Slavia.
However, Dybala did not accept this initiative and reiterated his desire to play as much as possible.
“Paulo is important for us, but the minutes he played today [versus Lecce] don’t really represent the player he is. He really did a lot for us tonight,” Mourinho told Sky Sport after Roma’s win on Sunday night.
“But I think it’s better not to take him to Prague. I told him how I felt about this and he said he wants to be there with us.”
In his post-match presser, Mourinho added, “I never thought he could play 90 minutes, neither me, nor Paulo, nor the doctors. He played 98 minutes and did it because of the emotions this game entailed, for the result, to help the team.”
“His condition was not to play 90 minutes, we had decided that he would not take penalties or free kicks, he would not shoot from a standing position. Yesterday I told the truth, but he wasn’t in optimal conditions, he stayed to get the result. In the first half he took a blow to the ankle but he said that he had nothing and went on.”
