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It is billed as the clash between the master and the apprentice. Jose Mourinho will come face-to-face with his former student Brendan Rodgers when AS Roma travel to face Leicester City on Thursday.
Both teams are aiming to be crowned champions of the maiden edition of the Europa Conference League, which is shaping up to be one of UEFA’s most competitive tournaments.
Roma reached the last four after navigating their way through some tricky matches, but Leicester dropped out of the Europa League after finishing third behind Spartak Moscow and Napoli.
However, both teams look evenly matched at this stage despite their recent struggles in their respective domestic leagues, where Roma are fifth and Leicester 10th.
Roma face Leicester City test
Mourinho has done very well since joining Roma last summer. The Portuguese manager has got the Giallorossi challenging for a Champions League slot as they occupy the fifth position in Serie A.
However, the former Chelsea and Manchester United trainer is a serial winner and, bar his short stint with Tottenham Hotspur, he’s won trophies at every club he’s managed.
He will, therefore, be aiming to win the Europa Conference League with Roma too this season. To do that, though, he’ll have to get the better of Rodgers’ Leicester.
Both managers know each other very well, having worked together in the past, but they currently believe in different philosophies and their teams play differently.
Mourinho has impressed in his time at Roma but getting to the Europa Conference League final represents his biggest challenge yet, and it remains to be seen how he’ll navigate his way through this test.
Mourinho’s big moment
Roma are eight points behind fourth-placed Juventus in Serie A, which effectively rules them out of qualifying for the Champions League.
However, securing a place in the Europa League could count as a success and it’ll be even better if Giallorossi can end the season with silverware.
After being criticized for the work he did at Manchester United and Tottenham, Mourinho joined Roma to re-build his reputation. The semi-final clash against Leicester is, therefore, a big moment for Mourinho to prove his critics wrong.
He acknowledged the importance of reaching the final in his pre-match press conference, as quoted by Football Italia:
“Leicester dropped down into this tournament from the Europa League, whereas this is our 13th Conference League game. We paid for it in Serie A by dropping points, having played on Thursday and then Sunday. Teams with 30 players all of the same level can rotate and not pay with points, but we don’t have that."
Mourinho added:
“The advantage Leicester have is they don’t need to worry about their Premier League position, whereas we do if we want to qualify for the Europa League, as we can still finish anywhere from fifth to eighth place in Serie A."
“It’s a tough moment, but also one with a lot of motivation. I have reached many European semi-finals and I say that no matter the names and the potential, it is always 50-50.”
Roma may yet miss out on Champions League qualification, but winning the Europa Conference League will be a big deal for the club and Mourinho after a difficult last few years for both.
