Mourinho and Roma in Europa Conference League final

*Score: Tammy Abraham 11′.

Similar to the first leg in England, Roma took the initiative. In the 8th minute, Lorenzo Pellegrini kicked the free-kick to the near corner, forcing goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to push the ball to hit the ground and take a corner. A minute later, the Italian midfielder hit the leg of the Leicester player in the penalty area, from Nicola Zalewski’s back pass.

By the 11th minute, the host’s overwhelming position was concretized. From Pellegrini’s corner, Abraham headed for the top corner, scoring his ninth Europa Conference League goal this season. Historically, only two English players have scored more goals than Abraham in a single European Cup season, excluding qualifying, namely Alan Shearer with 11 goals in the 2004-2005 UEFA Cup and Stan Bowles with 11 in the 1976 UEFA Cup. -1977.

This match, Roma is without Henrikh Mkhitaryan due to injury. Coach Jose Mourinho therefore had to place Sergio Oliveira in midfield with Bryan Cristante and captain Pellegrini. However, when necessary, the owner of the Olimpico stadium was still successful with Mourinho’s familiar thorny play.

Not long after opening the scoring, they nearly doubled the lead when Pellegrini penetrated the penalty area and hit Schmeichel in the face-to-face position. More than ten minutes later, Abraham poked a slot for Nicolo Zaniolo, but the Italian midfielder’s toe shot hit the visitor. In the first 45 minutes, Roma had seven shots, three of which were on target, while Leicester failed to make any notable moves.

The away team had to wait until the second half of the second half to threaten Roma’s goal. But they still have difficulty approaching the opponent’s box, and only create opportunities from long shots from James Maddison or Kelechi Iheanacho.

Securing a 1-0 victory, Roma entered the European Cup final for the first time since the 1990-1991 UEFA Cup, where they lost to Inter with a total score of 1-2. That season, Roma beat Brondby IF – the team whose goalkeeper is Peter Schmeichel – the father of Kasper Schmeichel – also in the semi-finals. If they beat Feyenoord in the final in Albania, Roma will win their first title in 14 years, since the 2007-2008 Italian Cup.

Mourinho also became the first coach to reach a European Cup final with four different clubs. Before joining Roma in the Europa Conference League final this season, the “Special One” joined Porto in the final of the UEFA Cup and Champions League, Inter in the Champions League and Man Utd in the Europa League.

Squad

Rome: Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Sergio Oliveira, Cristante, Zalewski (Vina 84); Zaniolo (Veretout 78), Pellegrini; Abraham (Shomurodov 88).

Leicester: Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira (Castagne 69), Fofana, J Evans, Justin; Tielemans; Lookman (Amartey 46), Maddison, Dewsbury-Hall (Perez 76), Barnes (Iheanacho 46); Vardy.

Hong Duy