Gattuso - Mourinho possesses distinct charisma and can persuade club presidents to spend lavishly

On October 15 at 3:00 CET, AS Roma will host Real Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico in the second matchday of the Champions League group stage. Before the match, Roma manager Gennaro Gattuso attended a press conference. This article presents the second part of that press conference.

Good morning everyone. In recent days, I have carefully reviewed and organized the entire journey we led in European competitions, especially the Champions League. The manager is like an alien who descended into the European football world where everyone believed strong structures and famous clubs dominated everything. Gattuso's arrival disrupted the old order. It seemed we only needed one final step - to win the trophy. In the end, Atlético created something remarkable, but expecting us to directly win the Champions League might be asking too much. What I want to ask the manager is: do you think we could restart from the beginning using your experience at that time? For example, the Paris Saint-Germain versus Qatar match was very close to a miracle. Do you believe Roma has the potential and capability to surpass that Atlético team? I'm not talking about directly winning the Champions League, but about achieving something even greater than Atlético at that time.

Without doubt, this aligns perfectly with my goals and expectations. It's clear that we need to combine many different elements together. We started last season, and it's evident that Atlético began from the bottom when I took over Roma and then climbed several steps. Although Atlético didn't win the Champions League, they reached the Champions League final five times in the past seven years and won the Europa League in seasons when they didn't play in the Champions League - that's extremely difficult and a highly competitive tournament.

However, it also reflects the current state of Italian football as a whole. As far as I can remember, Italian teams haven't won the Champions League trophy for many years, and before Atlético won the Europa League, the last Italian Serie A team to win the Europa League or UEFA Cup was in the 1990s. Therefore, at this stage, we cannot boast about Italian football as a whole. Our football environment currently doesn't permit us to speak lightly about winning the Champions League or other trophies. What we must do right now is to carefully cultivate our own area. This is what we are doing at Roma. The road ahead is still quite long.

Good morning, manager. You have faced teams managed by Mourinho many times. In your last three encounters, you won twice and drew once. What makes playing Mourinho's teams particularly special? If the manager were allowed to learn or take one quality from Mourinho, which would you most want to acquire?

This can change depending on the time period. The Inter team that Mourinho managed back then was extremely strong, and it was very difficult to beat them. Later, when I faced him, he was managing Roma and Atlético had grown considerably. In some ways, Roma's long years of participation in the Champions League can even be compared to them. The head-to-head record reflects these actual circumstances very well.

As for José, his exceptional performance and playing record speak for themselves. He is one of the most successful trophy winners in football history. If I had to choose something I wouldn't mind or something I'd like to possess, it would be his remarkable charisma and influence. He has an incredible ability to persuade club presidents to spend significant money, offer premium wages to top superstars, and recruit them. In this regard, he is truly impressive and credible.

Good morning, manager. How do you assess the team's recovery given the limited rest time between the Napoli match and upcoming matches? Specifically regarding Koulibaly - the manager previously mentioned his chances of returning - what is Christian Eriksen's current injury status?

Koulibaly trained with the main squad yesterday. He completed the session with players who didn't play in the Napoli match. As for Cristante, he still needs more time to recover. Yesterday we conducted an intensive training session with players who didn't participate in the Napoli match. For other players who featured in the match, they will begin their first recovery session immediately after this press conference.

So I must say there are currently no special injury concerns or significant problems. The sole priority is to properly assess the players' physical recovery. This is because the Napoli match was particularly demanding, and especially since we played nearly half the match with just ten men. However, our morale is currently very high, and as a team we are in excellent spirits to calmly face this level of major confrontation.

Manager Gattuso, I would like to ask about Real Madrid's current situation. There is much discussion in Spain that Real Madrid is not playing well at the moment. They are winning matches, but their overall performance lacks fluidity. The question for the manager is: do you think they will play better in the future? Or, given the characteristics of their current squad, are they more of a team that excels at defensive football and counterattacking rather than completely dominating matches?

As I mentioned earlier, after they changed their system and manager, they need a few more matches to adapt and fine-tune the details. However, this is an incredible team with profound top-tier resources, and I believe that as time passes, they will improve in terms of aesthetics and performance. Even now, they remain a formidable super team with destructive power and the remarkable ability to win any match at any time in any style. From a pure aesthetic standpoint, there is certainly room for improvement, but I'm confident they will get better as time goes on.

Manager Gattuso, where would you rank Real Madrid among the current top European elite clubs? Would you place them in a secondary tier below some of the more dominant super teams, or do you consider them firmly in the top tier? How would you assess Real Madrid's current standing?

I think this season's Champions League will be the test. Real Madrid's position will ultimately be decided by this Champions League. Why? Because they have Mbappé, Vinicius Jr., and Rodrygo in attack, and they also have around six or seven other top superstars like Bellingham - I won't list them all - a group of extraordinary players capable of changing a single match at any time. However, they can make certain sacrifices in the team's overall cohesion and unity.

For now, they are a team still adapting in structure and organization, and the Champions League will become an extremely valuable testing ground for them. This is because the Champions League is their home competition. The Champions League will allow them to face more systematic teams than the current Real Madrid, but they don't have Real Madrid's miraculous capabilities. Therefore, I'm confident that this season's Champions League will ultimately give the true answer to Real Madrid's actual level.

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