AIronically, before one of the most important home games of the season for José Mourinho, the talk in Rome is of farewell and sanctions instead of departure and visions. Before the semi-final first leg of AS Roma’s Europa League against Bayer Leverkusen this Thursday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Europa League and on RTL) in the Olympic Stadium, it is being said more and more openly that the self-proclaimed “Special One” will play until mid-2024 unable to fulfill his current contract and move to Paris Saint-Germain after the end of this season.
In addition, there is the abstruse wiretapping affair, which could result in a severe punishment for the 60-year-old Portuguese star coach. At the away game in Monza on May 3, Mourinho put a microphone in his jacket – for his “protection” against a possible argument with referee Daniele Chiffi, as he said. There was an immediate argument with Chiffi – for Mourinho “the worst referee I have met in my entire career” – and Mourinho was warned in the first half.
He is now threatened with a tough sanction by the Italian Football Association, which has backed its FIFA referee Chiffi, because of the matter with the hidden microphone. Mourinho’s bizarre behavior in Monza added to the damage done to his side, who had missed vital points in their battle to qualify for European competitions when they drew in Lombardy with Silvio Berlusconi’s new club. Word has it Mourinho could be banned for multiple Serie A games.
During his great coaching career – in Portugal, Spain, England and Italy – Mourinho has indulged in many an obsession without his career having suffered any significant damage. The affair with Chiffi could be different, at least as far as the part of his career in Italy is concerned. The Italian coaching association has also sharply criticized Mourinho’s behavior.
Next stop France?
Things have been going quite well for Mourinho since arriving in Rome in the summer of 2021. He won a title in his very first season: that of the UEFA Conference League, which was held for the first time. Winning the cup went hand in hand with qualifying for the 2022/23 Europa League, in which the Giallorossi fought their way to the semi-finals against Leverkusen.
Should Mourinho win the second title in the second year – in the second most important European club competition – AS Roma would bring in many millions of euros in the coming season in the Champions League. And Mourinho would increase his reputation as a coaching champion.
But in Serie A, the Giallorossi had already run out of air last season. In the end it was only enough for sixth place. In the cup, they lost out in the quarter-finals against Inter Milan in February. Mourinho has had to fill up his hospital squad with players from the youth team since March this season as well. And this season, the Coppa Italia came to an end in February: the defeat against US Cremonese at the Stadio Olimpico at home was a humiliation.
With four games remaining, Roma are seventh in Serie A and would miss out on qualifying for UEFA competitions. Local rivals Lazio, with whom you have to share the Olympic Stadium as a venue, are in third place and have six points more on their account.
If this distance were to remain, it would be a further humiliation. But the Tifosi, also the club management around the American investor and owner Dan Friedkin, are currently behind Mourinho: One does not forget that in 2022 after four decades he brought a European trophy to Rome and in 2023 the chance of another win in a UEFA maintained competition.
When Mourinho came to Rome in 2021, there was big planning and big buying: from the eventual Argentine world champion Paolo Dybala to the English striker Tammy Abraham and the Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum to the Portuguese international goalkeeper Rui Patrício.
But whether the Giallorossi can still count on Mourinho when planning the squad for the coming season and when realizing the vision of building a new stadium remains to be seen. The semi-finals against Leverkusen are like finals for Mourinho. At least in Italy and for AS Roma. Next stop France? There “The Special One” has not yet led a club to a triumph.
