Roma coach Jose Mourinho praised his players after reaching the Europa League quarterfinals.
A 0-0 draw at Real Sociedad saw Roma through the round of 16 on aggregate 2-0.
Mourinho said, “When they are 2-0 down, the home team risks everything to turn things around. They did well with their fans, marvellous stadium and crowd behind them, but the lads gave their all.
“They had the ambition initially to score a goal in the first 15-20 minutes, which was the opposite of the domination people expected at the start. I saw a Dybala shot that looked like it had to go in.
“After that, we defended very well, tried to go on the counter-attack and never stopped trying to score a goal, even when we were pushed deeper. That’s why I introduced fresh legs with El Shaarawy and Abraham.
“I also want to thank the Roma fans who travelled here for the game and were penned into that cage suffering along with us.”
He also said, “The lads do the work. I give a little contribution, but it is the team. We have these difficulties, Nemanja Matic had this problem and couldn’t play, so Wijnaldum who didn’t play for six months then had to play 90 minutes twice in three days.
“We return to Rome tired, but proud of what we have achieved. This type of courage and sacrifice, Belotti who had surgery on his hand a few days ago, Pellegrini with 30 stitches in his head. This proves it all.
“We are not the best team in the world, but we’re a solid group of players.”
