AS Roma boss Jose Mourinho believes that his side are the favourites to win the semi-final despite the fact that Roma lost 2-1 to Bodo/Glimt in the first-leg. The Italian side did take the lead but two second half goals saw Mourinho’s side lose yet another game to the Norwegian side.
While most of the first half was played on a level playing field, AS Roma walked into the second half with a lead after Lorenzo Pellegrini fired them in front. But things changed in the second half as Roma struggled to assert themselves and were also forced to replace Gianluca Mancini with an injury. So much so, that Bodo/Glimt scored twice, including an 89th minute goal, to walk away from the first-leg with a win.
The loss is the second time that the Norwegian side have beaten Roma, with them thrashing the Italian outfit 6-1 in November before going to the Olimpico for a 2-2 draw in the group stages. But despite that, Jose Mourinho is confident that his side will walk away with the semi-final berth and believes that the fans will play a part. The Roma boss also added that the last time they faced Bodo/Glimt at home, the officials didn’t do their jobs which hurt their performance.
“We lost 2-1, we have the second leg to play at the Olimpico in front of our fans and I have no problem saying right now that I feel we are the favourites to reach the semi-final. I have total faith in my players, in the stadium, the support from our people. Obviously, Bodo/Glimt are a difficult team, but I also have faith we will have a good referee and assistant in the second leg,” Mourinho said, reported Goal.
“When we played in Rome against them, there were two very clear penalties for us that the referee did not see, while today there were two moves that were flagged offside and the first half ended with a ridiculous situation as the offside flag was up on a throw-in, which shows you the level.”
The Portuguese boss also hit out at the ground as he believes that playing on an artificial turf led to Mancini’s injury. Not only that, he added that the two goals they conceded should not have gone in as Roma train and prepare for their set-pieces, which is a concern.
“The two goals were from a set play and a deflection. We score a lot of goals from set plays too, but it’s a good one to score, a bad one to concede. The first goal was ridiculous. To be honest, the thing that worries me the most is the injury for Mancini. It’s a concern, it’s something caused by playing on a plastic turf,” he added.
