Gasperini: Mourinho has unique charisma, he can convince club presidents to spend lavishly

On October 15 at 3:00 p.m. (CET), Roma will host Real Madrid in the second matchday of the Champions League group stage. On the eve of the match, Roma coach Gasperini attended a press conference. This is the second part of the press conference.

Coach, hello. A few days ago, I reviewed and specifically documented your entire journey with Atalanta in European competitions, especially in the Champions League. You arrived like an outsider in a European football world that everyone thought was fixed in order and dominated by established giants. Gasperini's arrival disrupted the old balance, and perhaps the only thing missing back then was that final step to win the trophy – after all, Atalanta created a miracle, but expecting them to directly win the Champions League might have been asking too much. I want to ask you: do you think you can build on that experience as a foundation? For example, the quarterfinal against Paris came so close to a miracle. Do you see Roma with the perspective and potential to exceed what that Atalanta team achieved? I'm not talking about directly winning the Champions League, but about achieving something greater than what Atalanta did back then?

Absolutely, that is precisely my objective and expectation. Obviously, this requires an extremely diverse set of elements working together. We started last season, and clearly Atalanta began from a lower position than the one I took at Roma, and then climbed many steps. Although Atalanta didn't win the Champions League, they reached the Champions League five times in the last seven years, and in the years they didn't play the Champions League, they won the Europa League – which is an extremely difficult and competitive tournament.

But this also reflects the current state of Italian football as a whole. From what I recall, Italian teams haven't won the Champions League trophy in many years, and before Atalanta won the Europa League, the last time a Serie A team won the Europa League or UEFA Cup was in the 1990s. That's why, at this stage, we can't boast about Italian football as a whole. Our current football environment doesn't allow us to easily talk about winning the Champions League or other cup competitions. Right now, the only thing we need to do is carefully cultivate and nurture our own ground. That's exactly what we're doing at Roma, with our feet on the ground, and the road ahead is still long.

Coach, hello. You've faced teams managed by José Mourinho many times. In your last three encounters, you've achieved two wins and a draw. What makes playing against Mourinho so special? If you could learn or take one quality from Mourinho, what would you most like to have?

That obviously depends on different periods. The Inter team Mourinho coached back then was extremely strong, and it was very difficult to beat them. Later, when I faced him, he was coaching Roma, and Atalanta had grown significantly, even replacing Roma in the Champions League for many years, in a sense. The head-to-head record largely reflects those objective contexts.

As for José, his brilliant achievements and record speak for themselves; he is one of the most successful winners in football history. If I had to choose one thing to admire or possess, it would be his unique charisma and strong ability to empathize – he can magically persuade and convince club presidents to spend lavishly for him, to invest enormous sums of money to sign superstars. In that regard, he is simply remarkable and incredible.

Coach, hello. After the exhausting match against Como, with such a short turnaround between games, how do you assess the team's recovery? Especially regarding Kolasinac – you mentioned his possible return earlier – and what is the current status of Cristante's injury?

Kolasinac officially joined the main squad for training yesterday. He completed the session with players who didn't play against Como. As for Cristante, he still needs more time to recover. Yesterday, we had a high-quality training session with the players who didn't play against Como. For the other players who participated in the match, we'll have our first recovery training session immediately after this press conference.

So I must say there are no particular concerns about serious injuries or special difficulties at the moment. The only priority is to properly assess the players' physical recovery. Obviously, the match against Como was extremely demanding, especially because we played with 10 men for nearly half the game. However, at this moment, our morale is very high, and the team is in a very good mental state to calmly face this crucial level of confrontation.

Coach Gasperini, hello. I'd like to ask about Real Madrid's current situation. In Spain, there's much discussion that Real Madrid's football isn't particularly good right now. Although they're winning matches, their overall style of play isn't fluid. My question for you is: do you think they can play better in the future? Or, given the characteristics of their current squad setup, are they more a team that excels in defensive transitions than in completely dominating matches?

As I mentioned earlier, after changing their system and manager, they may really need a few more matches to gel and adjust. However, this is a team with incredibly deep resources, and I believe that over time, they will only become stronger in terms of playing aesthetics and style. Even now, they're still a devastatingly threatening super team, possessing the remarkable ability to win any type of match at any time. Perhaps, from a purely aesthetic perspective of the game, they still have considerable room for improvement, but I believe that over time, they will definitely get better and better.

Coach Gasperini, I also want to ask you, in the current hierarchy of Europe's top giants, where would you place Real Madrid? Would you put them in the second tier, below some super teams that currently have stronger dominance in European competitions, or would you still firmly place them in the first tier? Where would you position this current Real Madrid team?

I think this needs to be tested in this season's Champions League. It is this Champions League that will ultimately determine Real Madrid's position. Because when you have Mbappé, Vinicius, Jude Bellingham in attack, and then at least seven or eight other superstars like Camavinga – I won't list them all here – you have an extraordinary group of players who can, by themselves, change and decide a match at any time. However, they may make some sacrifices in terms of compactness and overall team cohesion.

At this moment, they are still a team in the process of formation and integration, and the Champions League will be an extremely valuable testing ground for them, because the Champions League is inherently Real Madrid's home and stage. The Champions League will allow them to face teams that currently seem more like an organic whole than Real Madrid, but definitely don't possess Real Madrid's extraordinary talent. Therefore, I believe it is this season's Champions League that will ultimately provide the answer to Real Madrid's true position.

Traduzido por IA.

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