MY ACCOUNT
Roma head coach Jose Mourinho has sparked the build-up for Sunday’s Derby della Capitale remarking Lazio were “smoking cigarettes” while his side progressed in the Conference League on Thursday.
The Giallorossi edged past Dutch outfit Vitesse after Tammy Abraham’s 90th-minute goal earned a 1-1 draw and 2-1 aggregate victory at the Stadio Olimpico.
Mourinho said Roma would quickly switch their attention to Sunday’s derby with his side in seventh, one point behind Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio in fifth in Serie A.
“Obviously, I am not happy that we played today with many players who will also have to be there on Sunday while tonight Lazio are home smoking cigarettes with Sarri, but it’s because Vitesse are really good,” Mourinho told reporters after the game.
Mourinho fielded a strong Roma outfit against Vitesse and given the situation of the tie, with Maximilian Wittek’s 62nd-minute goal levelling it on aggregate, he was unable to rest any key players with a quick turnaround for Sunday’s derby.
“Now Sarri is at home smoking his cigarette while I go home trying to think how we can recover from this for Sunday,” Mourinho said.
He added: “We never came into this to control the result or aim for a draw to get us through. We worked with one objective, preparing to go for victory.
“It was a bad performance on a technical level, it might seem tactical, but it was technical. We defended well and showed character, but we also pushed hard at the end with El Shaarawy as a third striker, not a wing-back.
“I don’t want to say we 100 per cent deserved to go through, but over the two legs did a little more.”
