By Sulaimon Jamiu
Jose Mourinho became the first manager ever to lift the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy after his Roma side beat Feyenoord in Wednesday’s final.
Feyenoord dominated possession in Tirana but Roma took the lead on 32 minutes with their first shot of the match and held on for a priceless 1-0 win.
Roma midfielder, Nicolo Zaniolo, who had scored a hat-trick in Roma’s quarter-final victory over Bodo/Glimt, produced a superb two-touch finish following a long-range pass from Gianluca Mancini.
Feyenoord applied much more pressure in the second half and twice struck the Roma post. But Roma held on to win their first piece of silverware since the 2008 Coppa Italia.
Roma had never previously won a major European trophy (the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup they won in 1961 is not considered to be a major title by UEFA and FIFA).
But Mourinho certainly had, before joining the Italian outfit. This was Mourinho’s fifth major European final and he has not been on the losing side in any of them.
Mourinho is now the first manager to win European titles with four different clubs. As well as winning a brand new trophy, Roma earned more than £14 million in Europa Conference League prize money during their successful campaign.
