Italian club Roma won their first continental title in the first edition of the Conference League, the third most important European football championship, thanks to a goal scored by Nicolo Zaniolo in the final match, which took place in the Albanian capital Tirana. .
With this title, Roma manager José Mourinho became the first manager in history to win four European titles with four different clubs.
This is the fifth European title for Mourinho, who previously won two Champions League titles with Porto (2004) and Inter (2010) and two Europa League titles with Porto (2003) and Manchester United (2017). ).
Roma, who won their last title in 2008 in the Coppa Italia, in the current version lost to the Norwegian Bodo Glimt with a score of 1:6 in the group stage, but regained their winning tone and reached the final.
The fans of the capital team are aware of the importance of winning the first continental title, especially after unsuccessful decisions among the top four in the Italian league and qualifying for the Champions League, so they were satisfied with the sixth decision and the proviso. ticket to the Europa League.
Rome has historically lost two continental finals: in the 1984 European Cup against Liverpool on penalties, and in the European Union Cup in 1991 against fellow countryman Inter, barring its Cities and Exhibitions Cup (later to become the European Union Cup) crowning. ) in 1961 at the expense of Birmingham, England.
Mourinho (59) has never lost a continental final (other than a three-time European Super).
Thus, this season, Roma made up for the disastrous performance of the Serie A clubs that failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and the Blues failed to reach the World Cup final for the second time in a row. , despite winning the title of the last edition of the European Cup.
Off-field confrontation
The standoff began outside the stadium before the match started inside as violent clashes erupted in Tirana the night before when Feyenoord fans attacked a local resident and wounded ten police officers, according to authorities who said on Wednesday they sent dozens of fans . Italian capital club to return to their country.
Calm has returned to the streets of the Albanian capital following riots that injured 19 police officers and 10 others, including five Albanians, three Italians and two Dutch citizens who were taken to hospital for treatment, Deputy National Police Chief Albert Dervishai said on press conferences.
A police officer was stabbed and eight Feyenoord supporters were arrested for hitting an Albanian on a chair because of his support for Roma and had to be taken to hospital.
On Tuesday evening, a group of about 200 Feyenoord fans clashed with police as they tried to reach the place where the Roma fans were, some of whom attacked the guards with sticks and stones.
According to an AFP correspondent, fans of the two teams clashed in at least three places in Tirana.
Mkhitaryan leaves early
Back on the field, Roma were hit early in the match, with Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan falling to the ground with an injury to leave in the 17th minute to replace Portuguese Sergio Oliveira.
Mourinho decided to include Mkhitaryan in the match after he was out for about a month due to injury and only participated in one training session ahead of the final.
Inconclusive sparring became the hallmark of the first half-hour of the match with the construction of attacks without reaching the goal and the formation of danger from the two teams.
However, in the 32nd minute, the ball turned in favor of Roma, when defender Gianluca Mancini played a falling pass for the Dutch defense line, which Zaniolo had been waiting for, so he got it on his chest and calmly drove it into the goal over the Feyenoord goalkeeper. Justin Bailo.
At the age of 22 years and 327 days, Zaniolo became the youngest player to score a goal in a European Championship final since Alessandro Del Piero (22 years and 200 days) with Juventus against Borussia Dortmund in the League final, according to the sports statistics network Opta. champions in May 1997.
After the match, Zaniolo said: “It was a great fight, but I am very happy. One of my dreams was to win the title with Roma and now I have achieved it.”
Feyenoord tried to soften the shock of the goal and get back in the game before the end of the first half.
In the 41st minute, Turkish Orkun Kokcu fired a rocket followed by Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
The Dutch team approached the second half with more determination and thanks to the pressing attack there was an opportunity to equalize after Mancini’s ball mistakenly bounced and hit the left post, to reach Gus Till, who hit a powerful ball that was blocked. Patricio (47).
Two minutes later, a rocket shot came from Terrell Malasia, Patricio withdrew in his stop, hitting the corner of the crossbar and the left post and turning into a corner.
Englishman Tammy Abraham squandered an opportunity to double the score for Rome when he was alone in goal before he suddenly stopped, thinking the referee would blame him for a mistake after pulling up one of the defenders (51).
The rivalry between the two teams continued until the end of the match, with the referee counting five minutes instead of time lost, and the match ended in a victory for Roma.