"Why are we playing on Saturday? On Sunday there is rugby, on Monday the pitch will be destroyed"

Cremonese are in the Serie A relegation zone, but how well the Coppa suits the bottom side of Italian football. After knocking out leaders Napoli in the previous round, and again on the road, they knocked out Jose Mourinho's Roma to reach the semi-finals.

The Portuguese coach spoke to the media after the match at the press conference: "It's a strange cup, which penalises the lower teams and that's why they have even more merit. We paid for a horrible first half. I've learnt not to cry after the defeat and to think about what's next".

Moreover, Mourinho himself complained about the schedule: "It's difficult for us to play three games a week". The Roman coach had to leave important players like Dybala, Matic, Smalling and Abraham on the bench.

"My medical staff told me two days ago after analysing the data that there was a risk they could be injured," he added.

As if that wasn't enough, Mourinho was at it again at a press conference and complained about sharing the Olympic Stadium with Lazio and the Italian rugby team: "Why are we playing on Saturday? On Sunday there is rugby, on Monday the pitch will be destroyed. It's hard for footballers, it's hard to accept that you can't play in your own stadium because of another sport. But we are talking about Italy, it's a very nice sport rugby... which unfortunately ruins the pitch. Good luck to them.

 

February 1, 2023