Roma manager Jose Mourinho has shifted some of the pressure onto Sevilla ahead of the Europa League final, saying that his side do not have the experience that Sevilla do.
He was asked about the fact that Roma had a larger budget than Sevilla in his pre-match press conference, which Mourinho reacted to with surprise. He claimed it was not because Roma had better players, but that Sevilla’s were poorly renumerated.
“No way, I don’t believe it. It’s funny because with the players that Sevilla have… It’s because the Sevilla players earn too little, they are underpaid. We have kids from the B side. If they are earning more than Lamela, En-Nesyri or Montiel, then it is because they are poorly paid,” he told Relevo.
😱 La sopresa de 'Mou' al enterarse del presupuesto del Sevilla.
💬 "Si el presupuesto de la Roma es más alto, es porque los jugadores del Sevilla ganan poco". pic.twitter.com/NH8TFAhKVv
— Relevo (@relevo) May 30, 2023
Sevilla have ever lost an Europa League final, of the six they have played, and neither has Mourinho lost any of the five major European finals he has partaken in. Meanwhile Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar is taking charge of his first, and just his eighth European tie overall.
“I have had more opportunities than Mendilibar to play in Europe. We are two coaches of the same generation, with the same gray hair and we are in a very similar situation. This group has worked together for two years with 30 accumulated European matches. We are not coming into this as [innocent] little angels.”
“We are in this final because we have deserved it. We do not have the history or experience of others. It is not common to be in a European final, although we had one last year. It is historic. When the game starts we will be on the pitch and we will fight to win.”
The Portuguese has been linked with the exit door this summer at Roma, despite their European run, and in that he does share something with Mourinho. The Basque coach is out of contract at the end of the season, but Mourinho said his situation is much more complicated.
“Mendilibar’s situation is more complicated than mine because his contract ends. It is very different from my situation with Inter, because I had not signed with Real Madrid, but I was going to. It is a different situation because I have not thought about signing with anyone, I have not had contact with any club.”
“The story has to be made by the players. My two captains have asked me the same thing yesterday and I have answered them objectively, but of course I am not going to say it to you.”
