Manager Jose Mourinho is concerned as Roma lacks the depth and quality of Inter Milan’s squad ahead of their big clash in Serie A’s 10th round this weekend.
Facing Slavia in the third round of the Europa League Group G, Roma was without several key players due to injuries, including Paulo Dybala, Renato Sanches, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Tammy Abraham, Leonardo Spinazzola, Chris Smalling, and Marash Kumbulla. It’s unlikely that these players will recover in time to face Inter on October 29.
Therefore, Mourinho openly admits his worry whenever a player gets injured during a match with Slavia. The Roma coach said after the game, “Today, I thought Bryan Cristante was injured, and I felt like I was losing my mind. I believe my colleague Simone Inzaghi doesn’t have the same feeling if an Inter player is hurt because their squad is deep. But for Roma, any minor issue is a catastrophe.”
The match at the Olimpico yesterday was a decider for the top spot in Group G, as both Roma and Slavia had six points. The Czech team had not conceded any goals in the first two rounds, but Roma breached their defense after just 43 seconds with a brilliant strike from outside the box by Edoardo Bove. Sixteen minutes later, Romelu Lukaku broke free and scored with his left foot, securing the 2-0 victory.
The 2-0 win allowed Roma to take the lead in the group with nine points, three points ahead of Slavia, while Sheriff Tiraspol and Servette both have one point. If Roma continues to win against Slavia in the next round on November 9, they will secure their place in the knockout stages.
Mourinho was absent from the technical area due to a four-match touchline ban imposed by the UEFA for his verbal abuse of referee Anthony Taylor in last season’s Europa League final. However, he still attended the post-match press conference.
The Portuguese manager was satisfied and viewed Roma’s scoring from their first attempt as a rare occurrence, helping them gain an advantage over a well-organized opponent. He believes that Evan Ndicka, Gianluca Mancini, Bryan Cristante, and Lukaku are exhausted from their continuous play, which resulted in a lower intensity in the second half. However, they still maintained control of the match.
However, Mourinho continues to warn that Roma will face a tough challenge this weekend when they play Inter, as Inter is on a different level. He said, “Unfortunately, these are two completely different teams. Inter has two squads. They can rotate and rest players. They have two players for each position, so they have a lot of energy.”
Due to the personnel crisis against Slavia, Roma had to promote six academy players to the bench, including 21-year-old goalkeeper Pietro Boer, midfielders Riccardo Pagano (18 years old), Niccolo Pisilli (19 years old), Francesco D’Alessio (19 years old), Luigi Cherubini (19 years old), and forward Joao Costa (18 years old). Among them, Pagano and Cherubini had a few minutes on the field late in the match. Mourinho sees this as a challenge and a new career experience. He congratulated Cherubini on his debut for Roma.
The highlight of the upcoming Serie A clash in the 10th round will be Lukaku, who had a change of allegiance, joining Roma on loan this summer after previously playing for Inter. According to Football Italy, Inter fans plan to use 30,000 whistles to create a loud noise every time the Belgian forward touches the ball when he returns to the Giuseppe Meazza stadium this weekend.
When asked how Lukaku can overcome this pressure, Mourinho responded, “There’s nothing to do. Lukaku needs to rest. It’s a big match against a top opponent, but all we need to do is rest.”
