Jose Mourinho bizarrely claims Roma have ALREADY WON this year’s Europa League in dig at rivals and Uefa
JOSE MOURINHO has claimed Roma have already won the Europa League ahead of their semi-final clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
Roma won the first leg 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico last week.
They are targeting their second successive European final after winning the inaugural Europa Conference League last year.
Mourinho has his sights set on the trophy but he believes his side are theoretically champions already.
That’s because they are the only side that started the competition still remaining – Leverkusen, Sevilla, and Juventus all dropped down from the Champions League.
Mourinho said: “If I did not have the ambition of trying to win, it would be very easy for me to say now that we have already won the Europa League.
“Because if the Europa League is for the teams that started this competition, then Roma have won.
“However, that is just theory, our objective is to win.
“I want to make very, very clear my respect for Bayer Leverkusen as a team, but there is greater value for a side built to play in the Europa League and has had 14 games in the Europa League rather than a team that made the investments to play in the Champions League group phase.”
Mourinho has revitalised his career at Roma and his success has seen the Portuguese linked to Paris Saint-Germain.
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But he dismissed the speculation as he revealed he cannot consider his future while Roma chase European glory.
He added: “No, I don’t want to talk about that. There is a game to be played tomorrow, which isn’t even the Final, so the focus is on that.
“I am not even thinking about the Final, let alone about my future.”