sent an impromptu message to boss Carlo Ancelotti after Roma progressed to the final of the Europa Conference League, wishing his counterpart good luck against Liverpool.
The Portuguese coach watched his side overcome in the second leg of Thursday night’s semi-final clash, with an early headed goal from setting up a 2-1 aggregate win after drawing the first leg at the King Power Stadium.
Roma will now take on Feyenoord – who saw of Marseille 3-2 on aggregate – in the final in Tirana, Albania on May 25, the club’s first major European final since 1991.
Three days after Mourinho tries to secure his first trophy with Roma, Ancelotti – who played 171 times for the Giallorossi – will take on Liverpool in the final of the Champions League after a stunning comeback against Manchester City on Wednesday night.
During his post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia, Mourinho was keen to pay tribute to the veteran Italian coach and is hoping they both emerge victorious at the end of the month.
Speaking after Roma’s win over Leicester, Mourinho said: ‘If you allow me a message for a coach who is my friend, the great Carletto, let’s both go and win the finals!’
On his own side’s performance in the semi-final, the Portuguese continued: ‘I am so tired, I want to go home!
‘It’s a victory of the family. Not just the one that was on the pitch and on the bench, but in the stadium. That is our greatest achievement, this empathy and sense of family we have created with the fans.
‘I think our performance was extraordinary, others might see it differently, but when your goalkeeper makes two saves over 120 minutes against a Premier League side with so much attacking quality, it means we’ve done something good.
‘The lads deserve this, we have three Serie A games left to end as well as possible. We’ve had a fantastic trajectory to reach the final, we dropped points in Serie A to achieve that, but now we are in the final and we want to win.’
In overcoming Leicester, Mourinho has become the first manager to reach the final of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League – while he can also become the first coach to win all three competitions too.
Ancelotti, meanwhile, now stands alone as the manager with the most Champions League final appearances on five after his Real Madrid team produced one of the most incredible comebacks in the competition’s history against Manchester City.
, .
,  and .
