Roma boss Jose Mourinho spoke to the media after his team touched down in Finland ahead of tomorrow night’s return leg with Helsinki.
“Playing on artificial terrain is not football, it changes the technical aspect of the game. Those who are used to playing here have an advantage,” the Special One said when asked about the challenges of playing on Helsinki’s artificial pitch.
“Last year we played on the synthetic pitch twice and collected two defeats, one of which was historic. But, then we also had the opportunity to show our real identity when we killed Bodo at the Olimpico. Tomorrow this opportunity does not exist. There is no return leg at the Olimpico, we’ve already played there. If we lose tomorrow we are out.”
“Helsinki are a good team. A team that knows what to do, that has a good identity. Tomorrow will be a game where we have to play at a high level. We’re facing a difficult opponent.”
“Our goal-scoring issues? Those are problems that affect the whole team. It’s a team issue, not of individuals in my view,” he said.
