Mourinho: "I'd really like to reach the final – for the fans and my players"

Of the players who are touch and go, like Paulo Dybala, Stephan El Shaarawy and Chris Smalling, are any of them available at all?

“They're all able to play. Only [Rick] Karsdorp, [Diego] Llorente and [Ebrima] Darboe won't be available.”

Would winning the Europa League or not winning it affect your future at Roma? 

“I don't want to talk about these things. We have a match to play tomorrow. Let's talk about the semi-final – it's not even a final. We're focusing on this match, nothing else. I'm not thinking about the final and even less so about my future.”

How is this semi-final different to the others you've played in the past?

“The present is the most important thing. The past is in the past. The future we don't know about. At Porto I played two European semi-finals in consecutive years. Of course I'd really like to reach this final but not so much for myself. As I've said before, I've become a different person and I think more about others than myself.

“I'd really like to get there for my players and for the fans. The fans because they're extraordinary. My players are an incredible bunch who are giving absolutely everything this season - a season in which we've had lots of difficult moments that people have had to overcome. These lads really deserve it. But nobody gives you anything for free in football. We're going to need to produce something extraordinary to reach the final.”

Could Dybala and Smalling both start the game?

“The question is how long could they play? Not because of injury but because of how long the game could last. Smalling hasn't played a single minute in the last month. He's been training three times a week, separately from the rest of the team. Paulo hasn't played more than 30 minutes recently and he's trained even less. We need to see how many minutes they can play – whether it's 20, 30, 40 or more.

“We have to decide how best to fit the pieces into the puzzle of the match. However, both of them – like El Shaarawy and [Gini] Wijnaldum, who played against Bologna – are available.”

You've said you've not a superstitious coach. The bookmakers have Roma down as favourites to win the tournament as well as going through. Do you feel you're favourites? And what sort of match  will it be tomorrow?

“I am not at all superstitious, I'm not at all thinking about the bookmakers and I don't at all feel we're favourites. I've been saying the same thing for 20 years; when you reach the semi-final stage, you have a 25% chance of winning the competition and a 50% chance of reaching the final. That's my superstition for you in numbers.

“I don't know how the game will unfold. What we want to do is reach the final. We don't know if we'll win, lose, go to extra time or penalties. What we must be aware of is there is a lot still to play. We spoke about it today. An awful lot to play. There's still a very long way to go. With the first-leg score at 1-0, even if Bayer or Roma get a goal, the game won't take a specific direction. There's a long time still to play.”

Of the four semi-finalists, Roma are the only team that didn't drop down from the Champions League. Does that mean Roma have more of a right to win the trophy?

“If I didn't want to try to win, it would be easy to say that we'd already won the Europa League. Because if the Europa League is for the teams who started it, then we've won it. But that's only in theory. In practice, one of the four remaining teams will take the trophy home. That's our goal – it's what we want to do.

“What I want to make very clear is we respect Bayer as a team. They have the potential to win this competition. And I want to be very clear that experience makes me say this: it's 1-0 to us at half time and we still have the second half to play. But I do think it's worth more if a team starts in the Europa League and plays 14 games with a squad put together for this competition, than a team that spends money and sets out to play the Champions League group stage. But that's part of the beauty of the Europa League – these match-ups between clubs with different potential.

“Tomorrow will be our 14th match. We had a tough Europa League group with Real Betis, then a play-off against Salzburg, who had come from the Champions League, Real Sociedad, who had already qualified for the Champions League via La Liga, and Feyenoord, who were already Dutch champions. It's been a very tough journey for us, but it's all theory. All that matters is tomorrow's game.”

Does playing the second leg away from home change anything for you? This year in the knockout stage only against Real Sociedad did you play the first leg at home. And Roma didn't score. How will this be different?

“We didn't score in San Sebastian but we went through. We didn't score but we didn't need to after winning 2-0. If you're asking me if it's better to play at home or away, then I'm obviously going to say it's better at home with our fans. In our natural habitat. It's a different matter entirely.

“But I can tell you that playing the first leg at home against Bayer Leverkusen was tough for us mentally. Because we knew what their strengths were. And playing the first game at home, where in theory you should win, was difficult for us. But it happens. Hopefully we can win tomorrow and advance to the final. We'll see if it's possible.”