How Jose Mourinho’s Roma Adventure Came to a Bitter End

It was confirmed on the morning of 16th January 2024 that Jose Mourinho and his coaching staff at AS Roma had been sacked with immediate effect, with former Roma midfielder and club legend Daniele De Rossi taking charge as the interim coach until the end of the season. 

The two-and-a-half-year love affair is now over, having started with Roma breaking the internet back in May 2021 with his announcement -- Mourinho would be replacing Paulo Fonseca who would end up in France at Lille. The first season in Rome was a success on the European front, beating Feyenoord in Tirana Albania to win the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League title.

That European journey had its ups and downs, the 6-1 defeat to Norwegian champions Bodo Glimt was disappointingly low. Roma would get revenge on the Norwegian side in the quarterfinals with a 5-2 aggregate win thanks to a dominating display at home in Rome 4-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Nicolo Zaniolo. In the semifinal, Leicester City were beaten over two legs 2-1 thanks to a goal from Tammy Abraham in the second leg. Zaniolo was the hero in the final as he got the only goal of the game, sparking jubilant scenes in Tirana and back home in Rome when the players arrived back from Albania the morning after the final. 

https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/joshua-zirkzee-grabbing-his-second-chance-in-italy-with-both-hands-at-bologna/