'The dream is to win' - Jose Mourinho hoping to make 'history' in first edition of Europa Conference League
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Published 09/12/2021 at 09:03 GMT
Mourinho confirmed that Roma are targeting the competition, with the Portuguese manager drawing on his experiences at Porto, who he guided to a surprise Champions League triumph in 2004. Roma are lagging behind the early front runners in Serie A but could progress as Group C winners should they beat CSKA Sofia.
Mourinho 'dreams of winning the Europa Conference League'
Jose Mourinho has revealed that winning the first edition of the Europa Conference League is his "dream".
The Portuguese manager is in his first season at Roma, who could progress as group winners if Bodo/Glimt fail to win and Roma win away at CSKA Sofia in the last group stage round.
Drawing on his experiences at Porto, having guided the club to a surprise Champions League triumph in 2004, Mourinho is targeting a trophy in his first season in the Italian capital in the third-tier continental competition.
The former Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea boss believes that the nature of the Conference League will make it tough to win.
"Back [when I was at Porto], my dream was to win the Champions League, now the dream is to win the Conference League. They are obviously two different tournaments, but this is the tournament we are playing now," he said.
"We will see if Roma will have a chance to win the first edition of this tournament, and winning the first edition would also mean to write a little piece of history, so we will see if we can make it.
"This tournament will now have eight teams coming from the Europa League, and obviously Europa League means teams of a higher level than in the Conference League. We will have to wait, but we cannot hide the fact that we want to go as far as we can in this tournament."
Roma have had a mixed start to the season domestically, sitting seventh in Serie A having been toppled 3-0 at home by Inter in their most recent fixture.
Mourinho's side were also thrashed 6-1 at Bodo/Glimt earlier in their European campaign, and the Norwegian club will progress as group winners if they beat Zorya Luhansk in the Ukraine.
The group winners gain direct access to the last 16, while the runners-up have to play a knockout play-off against the third-ranked teams from the Europa League groups.
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