The draw against Servette complicated Roma’s life in the Europa League and could push the Italian team into a playoff with Champions League teams in the next phase.
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And, after the 1-1 draw last Thursday, after his team opened the scoring away from home, coach José Mourinho did not hesitate to publicly criticize his athletes.
“There are many who are on the bench and enter the Italian Championship with a great attitude. But in the Europa League they seem inattentive and don’t improve their way of playing”.
“There are two games left and I don’t want to make the drama of going to a playoff. The drama exists, yes, in the bad attitude that these players had, and those who joined”, said the coach.
In the game, Roma took the lead on the scoreboard, in the 21st minute, with Lukaku, but conceded a goal from Bedia at the beginning of the final stage and ended up with a 1-1 draw.
The four athletes that Mourinho put on the field throughout the match were Pellegrini, Spinazzola, Renatos Sanches and Belotti. But the Portuguese named Aouar, the starter, by name when he said that the Algerian “lost the opportunity to show his value”.
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When commenting on how to deal with athletes who are not performing, Mourinho made a quote to Pep Guardiola, coach of Manchester City, who was once the Portuguese’s rival in Spanish and English football and who today has at his disposal one of the most expensive squads in the world.
“Guardiola can do that. If he’s not happy with one, he fires him, dumps him and chooses another. I can’t do that here. I can only try to push every day in training, to get the best out of them,” said Mou, in a tone of irony.
With the draw, Roma fell behind in the dispute with Slavia Prague for the leadership of group G of the Europa League. The Czechs reached 12 points after beating Sheriff, leaving them in first place, while Roma were second, with 10.
The two teams will face each other in Italy in the final round, with Roma being forced to win to finish the group as first placed.
Furthermore, only the leader of each group advances directly to the round of 16 of the Europa League. The second-placed team will go to a playoff against teams coming from the group stage of the Champions League.