Jose Mourinho believes Roma’s 2-0 win over RB Salzburg was full of ‘great intensity, quality and ambition’. The Giallorossi took the lead through Andrea Belotti before Paulo Dybala added a second, but it was the performance of Leonardo Spinazzola that made the difference, as he set up both goals and was a constant threat for Roma. The victory puts the capital club into the draw for the last 16 of the Europa League, and speaking to DAZN (as quoted by RomaPress) after the match, Mourinho shared his delight at the teams performance and provided an update on the absentees to the team, notably Tammy Abraham and Gini Wijnaldum:
“We were great tonight, although I wouldn’t necessarily call it our best performance.”
“We played with great intensity, quality and ambition. Mancini was filling in as a full-back and Ibanez would often play in the midfield which made life difficult for the opponent. This was an extremely well deserved victory.”
“I’m happy for Belotti and Spinazzola, but there are so many others worth mentioning. Every player did what they were supposed to do, a fantastic job. Now we have to rest and prepare for Cremonese.”
“I had doubts regarding Dybala’s availability, he trained with us on Wednesday, but it was a non-intensity workout. Throughout the week he worked well with the trainers.”
“I trust the players’ experience. Paulo knows his body very well, and he told me he could play tonight.
“With Tammy we tried, with medical guarantees. But with the new face mask he didn’t see the ball very well, coordination wasn’t top. But he could give us a few minutes near the end and that was very important for us.”
“Wijnaldum? He is almost ready. I’m still not sure if he can play the full 90 minutes, but he could have played more than he did tonight.”
