AS Roma were thrashed 6-1 in the Europa Conference League by the Norwegian side, Bodo/Glimt, handing Jose Mourinho the biggest defeat of his managerial career. With the defeat, Roma lost their 100 per cent start to the competition as they now sit second in their respective group.
Having managed more than 1000 matches and losing only 162 out of those, a defeat is not something the special one experiences too often. The last time Mourinho witnessed a one-sided scoreline was in 2010 when Real Madrid were thrashed by Barcelona.
Jose Mourinho took over the managerial duties at AS Roma at the start of the 2021/22 season. It has also been a great one if this defeat is not taken into account. Having managed 13 games so far, he has won nine of them, amassing a win per cent of 69.23. The Giallorossi sit fourth in Serie A after having played eight matches.
AS Roma Thrashed by Bodo/Glimt as Jose Mourinho Justifies Defeat
The Italians Outclassed by The Norwegians
The visitors were completely outplayed when they visited Aspmyra Stadion. The hosts started with high energy and they were rewarded for that within the first 10 minutes. Erik Botheim scored the opener in the eighth minute. In the 20th minute, they took total control when Patrick Berg score the second goal for them.
At the half-an-hour mark, Roma came fighting back as Carles Perez reduced the gap by one goal. The visitors kept fighting and tested the goalkeeper multiple times to score the equaliser but had to end the first half trailing by a goal.
The second half took the most unexpected turn as AS Roma were left without a reply. Mourinho made three changes at the break, but it did not result in anything as Botheim extended the lead by two in the 52nd minute. During the 10 minute duration between the 70th to 80th minute, Bodo/Glimt added three more to Roma’s misery, thrashing them 6-1.
Although this defeat will take a huge toll on the team ahead, they are still safe in Group-C of the Europa Conference League. They are just a point behind first place and they still have three more fixtures to top the table and qualify for the knockout stage.
Jose Mourinho Justifies The Hammering Defeat
The Portuguese coach was disappointed with how AS Roma were thrashed, but he also took responsibility for it. Although there is no justification for the poor performance they put, Mourinho did mention the lack of squad depth as the reason for how things turned out.
Jose Mourinho had made nine changes to the side that were defeated by Juventus last weekend. Talking to Sky Italy after Thursday’s match, he explained by saying;
“We have a very good team, we don’t have a very good squad. Today, we didn’t play with the team, we played with the squad, and we were punished by that.
If I could use the same players every match I would. It’s risky because there’s a huge gulf between our first choice and second choice players. I expected better, but it’s my responsibility.”
He cheekily admitted that the opposition squad’s first team had better quality as compared to the second team he featured during the night. He further added that his intention was to rest his team for the weekend fixture, but that decision backfired as they were punished with an embarrassing scoreline.
Main Image Credit Embed from Getty Images