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Jose Mourinho has described the Coppa Italia as “the worst cup in Europe.”
The manager’s comments come despite his Roma side clinching a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition with a 1-0 win over Genoa on Thursday, as Paulo Dybala netted the only goal of the game.
Mourinho bemoans ‘worst cup in Europe’
The club from the capital will now take on the winner of Napoli versus Cremonese in the last eight, but Mourinho has instead opted to focus on Torino, who defeated Italian giants AC Milan in their round of 16 match.
Torino will now take on Fiorentina away from home in the last eight, much to the anger of The Special One. While he remains committed to lifting the trophy with his club, the enigmatic manager couldn’t help but have a go at the organisers of the tournament.
“First of all, I’ll say I would love to win it, I won it once playing against Roma, I would love to win it playing with Roma in Rome,” said Mourinho, as reported by LiveScore. “I think it’s the worst cup in Europe, it doesn’t protect the smaller teams. It doesn’t put on a show.
“I’m talking about Torino for example who win on the pitch of the Italian champions Milan, then they have to play the next elimination game away from home, I don’t understand this structure of the Coppa Italia.
“We played against a Serie B team with a full stadium, if there are empty stadiums they must understand why we are full and the others are not.”
Mourinho: Where is the beauty of the Coppa Italia?
Roma and Torino secured their spot in the next round of the Coppa Italia alongside fellow Serie A clubs Inter and Fiorentina, with league leaders Napoli seeking to do the same against Cremonese next Tuesday.
Also fighting for a place in the last eight are Juventus, Atalanta and Lazio, who take on Monza, Spezia and Bologna respectively, all next week.
But former Chelsea boss Mourinho, who was by no means done with his rant, has suggested that smaller clubs are hard done by in the competition, asking the question of where the ‘beauty’ is in the tournament.
“Last year we finished sixth, the year before we finished seventh and I want to invest in the Coppa Italia, but a lower team doesn’t want to play, what motivation do these people have?” added Mourinho.
“Torino won against the Italian champions, they made great history in the Round of 16 and they have to play away. Where is the beauty of the Coppa Italia? It would be nice to play on a Serie B or Serie C pitch, where is that? Because people accept it.
“The next elimination game will be either in Naples or at home with Cremonese, if we lose like last year, we’ll lose, but we’ll try to win. For a squad like ours, playing three competitions together is very hard.
“If we want to win the Coppa Italia I won’t say we want to, because everyone wants to, we will try to win the next game of the tournament.”
👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/DEZJphvilS
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) January 13, 2023
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