Roma, Feyenoord in Europa Conference League final
English striker Tammy Abraham scored the only goal as Italian side Roma defeated England’s Leicester City 1-0 on Thursday in Rome to reach the inaugural Europa Conference League final.
Abraham powered in a header from team captain Lorenzo Pellegrini’s 11th minute corner-kick and the hosts successfully fended off Leicester City’s attempts to equalise.
The narrow victory was enough to take Roma into the May 25 final in Tirana, Albania after a 1-1 first leg draw last week in Leicester.
“The fans won us the game,” said Abraham. “We could hear them coming into the stadium, we could hear them before the game. The win was for them, for Rome and for my team. Hopefully we can go all the way.”
Jose Mourinho’s side will meet Feyenoord in the final match after the former European champions progressed 0-0 in Marseille having won the home leg 3-2.
“We showed that it’s not just about good football, we can also battle for a result,” Feyenoord striker Cyriel Dessers said. “Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that we’d reach a European final? This is amazing.”
Feyenoord have two UEFA Cups in their trophy cabinet, in addition to the 1970 European Cup.
Roma in contrast have never won a recognised UEFA tournament and last lost the UEFA Cup final in 1991.
They do have an experienced manager on the bench though, with the hugely successful Mourinho now the first coach to reach major European finals with four different clubs.
He had previously done so with FC Porto (UEFA Cup and Champions League), Inter Milan (Champions League) and Manchester United (Europa League).
“When you work in Rome, live in Rome and breathe Rome, you breathe this club because it is the real club of the city,” Mourinho said after their match. “I felt from day one it is huge. But no victories and not many finals. The history is not related to the social dimension of the club.”
He added, “Of course I have had bigger moments than this but I am not feeling for myself, I am feeling for the people and my players. This for us is our Champions League.”
(dpa/NAN)
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