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Jose Mourinho issues Roma warning after Leverkusen victory
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He gives Georginio Wijnaldum and Paulo Dybala injury updates.
Despite winning the first leg of their Europa League semifinal match against Bayer Leverkusen, Jose Mourinho cautioned Roma to be careful.
At the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday night, 20-year-old Edoardo Bove scored the game’s only goal shortly after the hour mark to give the Serie A team a narrow 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. After Tammy Abraham’s attempt was saved by Lukas Hradecky of Leverkusen, the Roma youth product was quick to score on the rebound.
However, the hosts’ victory was far from easy. The entire game, Xabi Alonso’s team appeared dangerous, and in the 87th minute, Jeremie Frimpong’s shot was narrowly stopped on the line from tying the score.
Mourinho has hence warned his side after the match in a chat with Sky Sports where he said, “It wasn’t an easy match also because mentally it was very difficult to play against a team like Bayer. The lads were good at winning this first half, but we haven’t done anything yet.”
However, he lavished praise on the young goal-scorer and hailed his maturity as a player: “He (Bove) is a boy with a great education, he is a professional who seems to be 30 years old. He is humble, last year, he played five minutes, this year he has increased his playing time. He knows how to control the game and his emotions better than him. Even without knowing his loved ones, he will certainly have a family of the highest level.”
Due to their continued lack of match fitness, Roma players Paulo Dybala and Georginio Wijnaldum were unable to start the game and were instead introduced as substitutes. However, if they continue to make progress in their recuperation, Mourinho expects they might be handed more significant duties in Germany the following week.
“It’s hard to manage these situations, too many injuries. I haven’t talked to the boys yet but if nothing serious happens, let’s see if we can get them to play as early as next Thursday,” he stated.
Roma will resume play against Bologna in Serie A on Sunday before leaving for Germany to face Leverkusen in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final on Thursday.