Salzburg’s wish for Manchester United was not fulfilled in the draw for the second round in the Europa League – but AS Roma is currently just as big a challenge. “We have a nice, big task ahead of us,” said sports director Christoph Freund about the duels with the current sixth in Serie A.
Austria’s champion drew a very difficult sporting lot in Nyon, but also a particularly attractive one. “It’s a really big, traditional club from Italy. You only have to look at it: around 400 million euros market value, won the Europa Conference League, a star coach,” Freund said.
The star coach is called Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese star seemed to be on the decline after failed engagements at Manchester United and Tottenham, his style of play seemed outdated – but at AS Roma he rose again. In the first season, the 59-year-old led the club to their maiden win in the Europa Conference League, the first international title for the “Roma” in 61 years.
This completed his personal European Cup trophy collection: he triumphed in the Champions League with outsiders FC Porto (2004) and Inter Milan (2010), he won the Europa League with Manchester United (2017) and the UEFA Cup with Porto (2003). There are also three league titles in Spain with Chelsea, two in Italy with Inter Milan and one in Spain with Real Madrid.
Mourinho’s self-confidence had not suffered even in the interim drought. He still pushes into the spotlight, he still scolds the team like hardly any other coach in public – but the players still follow him blindly.
Similar to AC Milan
On February 16, Rome’s Mourinho show will be in Salzburg, and a week later it will be played at the Stadio Olimpico. “The second leg would certainly have been nicer in front of our own fans,” said Salzburg’s Andreas Ulmer, “but basically you need a really good performance in both games if you want to progress.”
Serie A competitor AC Milan faced Salzburg in the Champions League group (1-1, 0-4). Freund put AS Roma “on a similar level”. Ulmer showed that the big draw in Salzburg’s self-image is not an insurmountable task by looking further ahead: “If we can beat an opponent like AS Roma, then our self-confidence will continue to grow.”
Source: Nachrichten
