UEL: Can AS Roma go all the way without the special one?

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Portuguese gaffer, Jose Mourinho acclaimed far and wide as one of the best coaches to have ever graced the game in recent years is more than renowned for his European pedigree.

With an under the radar FC Porto, he went all the way to take the UEFA champions league by storm in the 2003/2004 edition.

Undeterred, he returned for a second trophy with Inter Milan in 2010. Away from the European first tier tourney, he attained Europa league glory with a worrisome Manchester United in 2017. Also recently getting Roma into the final of the 2022/2023 edition.

A season earlier, the former Real Madrid head coach won the inaugural UEFA conference league with the Italian side. Necessitating, he became the first and only manager thus far to win all three levels of UEFA’s club competitions.

Having been replaced on an interim basis by club legend Daniele De Rossi, it’s left to see the fate of the club without the pragmatic and laureled manager.

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Former Roma club legend Daniele De Rossi took over the reins as the club’s new manager after Jose Mourinho was dismissed from the position in January.

De Rossi, who made 511 appearances for the club during his 17-year career there, had little managerial experience before entering the role, with his only previous experience being a four-month stint at Spal in 2023.

The club will on Thursday commence their UEL knockout journey against Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton and Hove Albion.

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Worthy to note, De Rossi has had a good start to his managerial career at Roma, recording only one loss so far. Taking league wins over Hellas Verona, Salernitana, Cagliari, Frosinone, Torino and most recently Monza.

De Rossi has acknowledged the strength of the Brighton team, but is confident that Roma are more than capable of taking them on. 

The Italian outfit finished second place in their group stage, falling just behind Czech side Slavia Prague. This earned a playoff tie to Feyenoord Rotterdam — same side they defeated in the initial conference final and enroute to the Europa league’s last year.

De Rossi oversaw both matches which ended in 1-1 draws, and required a penalty shootout victory to progress.

So far under the gaffer, Paulo Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Romelu Lukaku have all seen upturns in form, ahead of their turbulent UEL campaign, the sky is the limit for the capital city side under new management.