José Mourinho went to great lengths to avoid being misinterpreted after AS Roma's victory at Sassuolo. The coach deemed it necessary to speak to the press in his mother tongue.
The reason for this was Mourinho's comments prior to the match with Sassuolo about the appointment of referee Matteo Marcenaro. It was reported that Mourinho had been 'concerned' about the appointment.
"I speak Portuguese because my Italian is not refined and strong enough to express certain concepts," Mourinho stated.
"When I talked about emotional stability, I was referring to a quality that is necessary in football to perform at the highest level," Mourinho reflected on the controversy sparked by his statements before the victorious Serie A match.
"This is a victory for the players and the Roma supporters who came to the stadium," continued Mourinho, whose team climbed to fourth place. "I thank the owners and Director Pinto who, in the past 24 hours, have given me the support and emotional stability I needed to complete this job. It's a great victory, we fought hard and deserved it because our team was the best, even a goal down. I'm very happy for the players and all our fans."
Roma, which triumphed on Sunday with goals from Paulo Dybala and former Ajax player Rasmus Kristensen, will play their next match at home against Fiorentina, a direct competitor for European spots. This will be followed by the final group game with Sheriff in the Europa League, where the club has already secured a place in the knockout phase.
