Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid coach, told Sky Sports that returning to the Olimpico is a special moment for him, given his past with Roma. "Returning to the Olimpico is nice, but in ninety minutes we will be enemies. Indeed, adversaries, I and the Roma fans will never be enemies. If before the match people want to give me a special greeting I will hug the Roman fans", he explained, underlining that the rivalry is temporary and that respect for the Giallorossi team remains.
The coach then reflected on his relationship with Roma, stating that "the story with Roma perhaps didn't end as he would have liked". "What can we do? It's life, football. It will be an opportunity to feel the love of the people. I will try to control myself, maybe I won't succeed, but for ninety minutes they will want to win and I will want to win", he added, highlighting the need to concentrate on the result of the match.
Mourinho clarified that he does not feel envious of Roma's coach, Gennaro Gattuso, and expressed respect for the work done in Italy: "No, but I have a lot of respect. He has been doing important work in Italian football for years." He then illustrated Real Madrid's preparation for the match, focusing on Roma's strengths and possible tactical variations: "We prepared ourselves according to Roma's basic principles, the ones we observed, but they can also do something different, because they know that those with the white shirts are not an easy team. The important thing, however, will be what we do."
Regarding key players, Mourinho mentioned Vinicius Jr., saying: "The other day I said that it hurt my heart to see Vinicius in this situation. He always works hard, he is happy, but this season he has never found the joy of being decisive. We will see if he can be the real Vini in the Champions League." The coach then closed his interview with the optimism of facing the challenge with maximum concentration, ready to compete for victory in the next 90 minutes.