José Mourinho’s master class, Nicolo Zaniolo’s fairy tale: how Roma won the Europa Conference League final

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José Mourinho showed that he retains the Midas touch in European finals as his Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 to become the inaugural Europa Conference League winners.

Nicolo Zaniolo scored the only goal in style in the 32nd minute at the National Arena in Tirana.

Roma’s first European title was the 16th different trophy of Mourinho’s decorated career, as he posted five wins from five in continental finals.

Feyenoord pushed their Serie A opponents hard after halftime, but that was how Mourinho’s men refused to deny.

Mourinho’s tactics give Roma advantage in the first half

Once upon a time, Mourinho was the manager in his early forties who led a strutting young team to the European finals. In some respects, the extent to which the 59-year-old’s Roma shut out Feyenoord only served to underline what a phenomenal achievement it was for him to win the UEFA Cup and Champions League with Porto in 2002/03 and 2003/ 04, respectively.

In Tirana, Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, 43, played the role of new kid on the block and it took his side until early in the second half to assert themselves, hitting the post twice when Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio he made a couple of wonderful saves.

“The Special One is an old story,” Mourinho said, a bit weary at the pre-match press conference, when his former self-proclaimed nickname was mentioned. “When you have more maturity and stability, you think a lot more about people and less about yourself. I can do what every coach can do and try to help the team.”

Lined up in what has become Roma’s usual 3-4-3, Mourinho certainly helped his players. Feyenoord looked to attack in a tight 4-3-3, with Arsenal loan Reiss Nelson leading in early exchanges. But the open spaces offered to full-backs Rick Karsdorp and Nicola Zalewski were a puzzle that the Eredivisie side never really solved in the first half.

Karsdorp and Zalewski didn’t make much of an attacking contribution, but Feyenoord ducking to cover them was part of the reason right central defender Gianluca Mancini had so much time and space to pick out Zaniolo for the deciding goal.

Chris Smalling makes his case for England

The kind of doggedness Mourinho expects from his defensive units was on display when Feyenoord found their voice in the second half. The experienced Rui Patricio showed exceptional reactions to deny Guus Til and then brought down Tyrell Malacia’s rough long range on the very post that Mancini inadvertently hit moments before.

It was a familiar sight to those who watched Mourinho’s Manchester United and Tottenham teams retreat into their shells to defend slim leads: Lorenzo Pellegrini guiding the ball into the corner flag with 80 minutes on the clock teetered dangerously close to self-parody. but the Serie A side had the defensive muscle to get the job done. Roger Ibáñez made a perfect late intervention to deny Cyriel Dessers with an hour played.

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That came after Roma centre-back Chris Smalling lost his footing, possibly the only time the England international made a wrong move, and even then managed to make Dessers partially uncomfortable. During the first half, Smalling’s positioning, anticipation, pace and strength were on display to distract the competition’s top scorer.

At 32, Smalling’s days with the Three Lions appear to be over, but as Harry Maguire struggles to get fit and John Stones emerges from an injury-hit season, England manager Gareth Southgate should know he has a Resurgence option available in the Italian capital, as his superb blocking to deny Dessers his eleventh goal of the competition with nine minutes remaining proved.

Tammy Abraham’s future is in Roma

The most famous English success story in Rome this season has been Tammy Abraham, the former Chelsea player who has scored 27 goals in all competitions, including nine in 13 Conference League games. Had he added two or three to that tally in Tirana, the headlines would have been easy to imagine, the clamor for a return to the Premier League hard to resist.

In that context, Abraham perhaps put on the perfect performance in the final. There were no fireworks to spin the money, but he expertly led the line, which is no easy feat once a Mourinho side becomes reactive. He was isolated at times, but tirelessly ran the channels when he lacked support in the middle.

At the end of one of those foot races with Marcos Senesi, he hit his chest and ignited the support of Roma, who roared in approval. When Abraham beat Senesi, who experienced a really torrid moment at the hands of Roma’s number ‘9’, in minute 53 he finished off the goal and unmarked hard. The lack of a red card or VAR intervention was inexplicable and, frankly, a diving announcement.

Thankfully, Abraham didn’t have to reflect on that in anguish as he added to his collection of UEFA medals, even though he didn’t appear in any Champions League or Super Cup showpieces for Chelsea last year.

In Rome, it’s comprehensive and exactly where it needs to be. At 24, there’s no need to stake a career on a strong upward trajectory in the transfer market.

Nicolo Zaniolo makes up for Italy’s pain

Their ties to the Premier League are certainly strong, but Roma’s first European trophy was sealed by one of Italy’s brightest young talents. Few people will envy Zaniolo for being the hero after the injury nightmare he suffered in 2020.

The attacking midfielder was in line for Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri squad that marched to glory at Euro 2021, only to be dropped by a second ACL injury in the space of eight months in November 2020. 2020. Subsequent playoff elimination from Qatar 2022 means he will have to wait even longer to shine on the biggest stage with his country.

Zaniolo’s marvelous chest control and skillful finishing for the only goal left no doubt that he possesses the talent to do just that when the time comes. All the hours of agonizing rehabilitation paid off in one golden moment.




Reference-www.sportingnews.com

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