José Mourinho once said that he was in the camp of managers who criticize the referees, a statement that is impossible to contradict. Despite the fact that over the years it has slowed down, there are still times when The Special One appears at its best. Losing a European final, the first of his successful career, is hard to digest; even more so if you consider that arbitration has been decisive.
The performance of Englishman Anthony Taylor in the Europa League final that Roma lost against Sevilla made the Portuguese coach despair. So much so that after the game Mourinho decided to wait in the parking lot of the Puskas stadium in Budapest for the arbitration group in the parking lot to recriminate them for his role. "You are a fucking disgrace, it's a shame," snapped the coach of the Italian team, who also criticized Roberto Rosetti, head of the UEFA arbitration commission, for his positioning. "You agreed with them."
Constantly the Roma bench protested angrily, whether or not it was a controversial action. What could have been decisive was a handball inside Fernando's area a few minutes from the end. However, the VAR did not advise Taylor to go review the play. He did do it minutes before, when the English referee had awarded a non-existent penalty from Ibáñez to Ocampos. He later retracted it.
At a press conference, Mourinho also criticized the impunity of the Sevilla players. According to the Portuguese, Erik Lamela, one of the pitchers who scored in the penalty shootout, should have been sent off. "It is enough to look at Ibáñez's mouth and you understand everything, to see Lamela who has taken a penalty and should have been sent off; it is enough to see that the team that played the best in the first half is the one that has finished with three yellow Pellegrini falls and is yellow, Ocampos simulates and there is no yellow.
He insisted on his attack on arbitration proceedings. "The influence of the referees in our matches is something we are used to, but in a European final I didn't expect it," he said. He also used sarcasm after his team ran out of options to play in the Champions League after losing the title. "Taylor is a great referee, we hope that next year he will whistle only in the Champions League, that he will shit in the Champions League and not in Europa League matches."
Regarding the game, he said he was leaving proudly and leaving his future up in the air. "I have won five finals and I have lost this one, but I return home prouder than ever. We are dead with physical and mental fatigue. And also dead because we think that the result has not been fair: the referee seemed Spanish. My future? I I go on holiday on Monday, there will be time to talk. I want to continue but the players deserve more and so do I, and I want to fight for something more. We are not yet a Champions League team".
The defeat left the Giallorosso team very touched, who arrived in Budapest with the illusion of lifting the second consecutive European trophy after winning, also with Mourinho, the Conference League last season. The Portuguese coach ends his contract in June 2024. Both the club and the fans want him to continue after having restored the competitiveness that the club lacked.
