Jose Mourinho apologised to Renato Sanches after substituting him 18 minutes after bringing him on the pitch in their 2-0 loss to Bologna. The Giallorossi struggled to get a foothold on the game but had chances to equalise, despite missing both Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku in the starting XI. Sanches became a talking point after being bought on in the 46th minute and being subbed off on minute 64. Speaking to DAZN in the post-match, Mourinho apologised to the player and explained why he had to make the substitution:
“Some people didn’t take advantage of the opportunities they had today. I want to publicly apologize to Renato. What I felt I was doing is hard for a footballer, but it was hard for me too. It’s something I’ve done 3/4 times in my career and I apologize to him.”
“Without Dybala there is no class, and without Romelu we lack physicality. I knew it would be tough without them. We had great physical difficulties. Bologna have players with skill and intensity, we don’t. For this reason the game became more complicated.”
“Mancini is in great difficulty because he is playing with a very acute hernia. He plays because he wants to help the team and because the team needs it, but he is an example of the fact that not all players are not in the same situation. We are physically inferior to Bologna.”
