Roma manager Jose Mourinho has aimed a dig at Tottenham and chairman Daniel Levy ahead of his Europa Conference League semi-final second leg with Leicester City this week. Mourinho was sacked by Spurs less than a week before a Carabao Cup final with Manchester City, a game they eventually lost.
Former midfielder Ryan Mason instead stepped into the dugout for the remainder of the season before Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte followed. Mourinho was appointed to takeover from Mauricio Pochettino after the Argentinian was controversially sacked in the 2019-20 campaign.
The Portuguese had an immediate impact at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but it eventually turned sour and amid the backdrop of the failed European Super League venture, he was sacked in April 2021 with the club in seventh having picked up two points in their last three games.
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"Jose and his coaching staff have been with us through some of our most challenging times as a club," Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said after the decision. "Jose is a true professional who showed enormous resilience during the pandemic.
"On a personal level I have enjoyed working with him and regret that things have not worked out as we both had envisaged. He will always be welcome here and we should like to thank him and his coaching staff for their contribution."
Mourinho, perhaps surprisingly, bit his tongue on the decision for much of the aftermath. Appointed by Roma in the summer, he got back to work in Serie A and has led them to fifth place and the cusp of Europa League qualification.
In his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, he was asked about his desire to win the semi-final with Leicester and progress to another final. In his response, he just could not help having a pop at Levy and Spurs.
“I want to win the next one always, if the next one is the semi-final, even more," Mourinho told his press conference in the build up to the clash, via Nick Mashiter of PA Media. "Of course the semi-final gives you the right to play a final – if you are not sacked before the final."
