An emotional Jose Mourinho hailed his ‘historic’ achievement of becoming only the second manager to win five major European titles after Roma clinched the Europa Conference League on Wednesday night.
Mourinho, who had previously won the Champions League, Europa League and the UEFA Cup, emulated the record of Giovanni Trapattoni by completing a unique European trophy haul as Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 in Tirana to ensure he could add the inaugural Europa Conference League to his collection.
‘There are so many things going through my head. So many things at the same time,’ he said, fighting back tears on Sky Sport Italia.
Jose Mourinho’s Roma beat Feyenoord to win the inaugural Europa Conference League
‘I’ve been at Roma for 11 months, I realised the moment I arrived what it meant, they were waiting for this. As I told the lads in the locker room in Turin, we did what we needed to do, qualify for the Europa League. We had great work all season.
‘This was not work tonight, this was history. We had to write history. We wrote it.
‘The Conference League is a competition that we had the sensation from the start we could win, but it got a stronger competition when the Europa League teams came in, Leicester City, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord. But we were counting on it, we could’ve had a few more points in Serie A, but we put so much into this competition.
‘Now I am staying, there are no doubts. Even if some rumours emerge, I only want to remain at Roma. We must understand what our owners, who are fantastic people, want to do next season, because this is history, but we can build a really strong project with honest professionals.
The Portuguese was in tears after the emotional victory in Tirana on Wednesday night
‘We need to sit down and understand what the plan is for next season.’
Dan and Ryan Friedkin visited Mourinho in London to talk him into taking this job.
‘This remains in the history of Roma, but also mine, I was told only I, Sir Alex and Giovanni Trapattoni won trophies in three different decades. It makes me feel a little old, but it’s nice for my career!
‘Now I will go on vacation and sit on the beach to think about all this for a while.’
Mourinho is only the second manager after Giovanni Trapattoni to win five European titles
That is five European finals for Porto, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Roma since 2003 that Mourinho has coached in and five times he has taken home the trophy.
He added: ‘The great thing about my career is that, aside from the Europa League with Manchester United, doing it with Porto, Inter and Roma is very, very, very special. It’s one thing to win when everyone expects it, when you made the investments to win, but it’s quite another to win when something remains immortal, that feels truly special.
‘I think of myself, of course, but above all the Roma fans who can celebrate tonight, enjoy themselves and remember this night forever.’
Mourinho also has won five of his five finals in Europe, a point he made known post-match
Mourinho was asked if he feels like a real Romanista tonight.
‘Of course I feel like a Romanista, but that might be my way of working. I am a Porto fan, an Inter fan, a Chelsea fan, I am crazy about Real Madrid, I am now a Roma fan, I belong to all those clubs because we had these moments together.
‘Tonight, with all due respect for all the clubs I worked for before, I am 100 per cent Romanista, because these fans are truly incredible.’
Roma won the inaugural Europa Conference League with a 1-0 victory over Feyenoord
Nicolo Zaniolo’s well-taken first-half goal was enough to down the Dutch side in Tirana
