Mourinho insists Roma ‘did not lose’ Europa League final to Sevilla

Roma boss Jose Mourinho insists his side ‘did not lose’ to Sevilla in last season’s Europa League final – despite being beaten on penalties.

The Italian outfit looked set to claim the 2022/23 Europa League crown after taking the lead through Paulo Dybala but a Gianluca Mancini own-goal sent the showpiece event to extra time, and then penalties.

The Spanish side claimed a record-extending seventh Europa League title in an ill-tempered contest, which saw 14 players and coaches, including Mourinho, shown a yellow card. However, he maintains that the game did not result in a defeat for his side.

“It is a different season to the last, a different competition,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I will also continue to say until the bitter end that we did not lose that Final in Budapest. Every time people talk to me about it, I will tell them that we did not lose.”

Although Roma reached the final last season, they began their campaign with a 2-1 loss away to Ludogorets Razgrad just over a year ago, and Mourinho is determined not to repeat the trick this time out.

“Having said that, we start from scratch and the first objective is to qualify for the next phase. Last year we started the group with a defeat and that complicated matters, having to go through the play-offs, so winning the group would obviously be important,” he added.

Prior to last season’s final, Mourinho had won all five of the European finals he had been in but he ended up throwing his runners-up medal to a child in the crowd, whilst Sevilla celebrated their victory.

The Portuguese will have unfinished business with this tournament after their dramatic defeat last time out.

Roma take on Sheriff on Thursday evening in their first match of the tournament. They will also play Slavia Prague and Servette in Group G.