Jose Mourinho, the manager of Roma, claimed that his team will not be much harmed by Sevilla's six previous victories in the Europa League final on Wednesday in Budapest.
Sevilla are looking for a record-extending eighth success at the Puskas Arena, in a contest the Hungarian media have called ‘The Specialists vs The Special One’.
Mourinho has yet to lose in five major European finals as a manager, while Sevilla have won all six of their Europa League finals.
The Portuguese told a press conference: “History does not play. I admire my colleague, Sevilla head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, even though he believes otherwise.
I respect his view that Sevilla are the favorites because of history. We merit being in the championship game.They have a past that is unknown to us. For them to play the final is a normal thing, for us it is an extraordinary event.”
Mourinho has won the Europa League with Porto (2003) and Manchester United (2017), and he hopes to become the first manager to do so with three different teams.
The former Chelsea manager, 60, continued, "We are two great teams with high-level players.It’s curious because we talk about coaching experience, but we face a Sevilla team that has extremely acclimated players. “They have a little more finals experience, but my team is prepared for this.
Last year, Mourinho won his most recent European championship as he steered Roma to win over Feyenoord in the inaugural Europa Conference League final.
Roma defeated RB Salzburg, Real Sociedad, and Feyenoord in the knockout stages before defeating Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 on aggregate in their semi-final. Roma finished second in this season's Europa League qualifying group behind Real Betis.
With one game left, the Italian team, which is now sixth in Serie A, might benefit from the return of former United defender Chris Smalling (hip), while Argentina's Paulo Dybala hopes to participate despite an ankle ailment.
Sevilla head coach Mendilibar, 62, will become the oldest manager to win the Europa League if the Andalusians seal a record-extending seventh tournament win.
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