Mourinho Says On Roma's Defeat To Juve: Fear Emerges Due To Declining Mentality

JAKARTA - AS Roma coach, Jose Mourinho strongly criticized the appearance of his team after being beaten by Juventus at home. Mourinho said the mentality of his squad began to decline as the Old Lady tried to overtake the lead.

In the meeting in the 21st week of the Italian League 2021/2022, AS Roma appeared at the Stadio Olimpico, their headquarters. In the match on Sunday night, the hosts actually took the lead in the eleventh minute through Tammy Abraham.

However, Juventus responded seven minutes later through Paulo Dybala. The score was then broken by Roma who took the lead again through goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the 48th minute and Lorenzo Pellegrini in the 53rd minute.

Juventus then reversed the situation in the 70th minute through Manuel Locatelli's goal. In just seven minutes since Locatelli's goal, Massimiliano Allegri's men netted twice against Roma through Dejan Kulusevski and Mattia De Sciglio.

It was from the moment of Juventus' revival that Mourinho judged that the mentality of his players had begun to fade. The opposing team actually appeared stronger because they managed to steal points.

"When we let them come back for 3-2, a team with a strong mentality like Juventus, (showed) strong character. Fear arises because the mentality is down. It's not a problem for me (score) 3-2, it's a problem for them , my team," said Mourinho as quoted from Football Italia, Monday, January 10.

"In the end, when you are unlucky, you get up on your feet and find your character. But there are some people in the dressing room who are a little too good, a little too weak."

In addition, the Portuguese coach also said his team's performance in this match was lacking because he did not have many options on the bench. Rick Karsdrop and Gianluca Mancini are still serving sanctions, loan player from Arsenal, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, was immediately demoted just hours after negotiations were completed.

The defeat against Juventus is the ninth for Roma from 21 matches that have been rolling. Losing three points at home makes Roma now sit in seventh place in the standings, losing on goal difference to Fiorentina who have the same value in sixth but have two games saved.