Jose Mourinho goes into his 6th European final tonight against the ‘kings’ of the Europa League, Sevilla, in Budapest.
The Portuguese tactician has five major continental titles to his name – two Champions League wins, two Europa League trophies and the maiden Europa Conference League.
If Roma lift the trophy in Hungary, Mourinho will pull clear of Giovanni Trapattoni, who also won five major European trophies in his coaching career.
The former Chelsea manager reacted to the Andalusian club captain, Ivan Rakitic’s claims of the Europa League being their competition; “History doesn’t win matches at all,” the 60-year-old told UEFA. “You look at Real Madrid’s finals and you think Real Madrid wins every final. You look at Sevilla and you say: ‘Sevilla wins every final.’ But the reality is that history doesn’t win matches. Superstition is something that I don’t like, so I don’t look at superstition even as a factor.”
A win for Roma would be a passport into the Champions League as they have missed out on an automatic spot in the Serie A.