Mourinho made Roma kick 10 people
At Air Albania, Tirana on August 13, Roma dominated with 65% possession, finished 15 times with eight shots on target, scored twice in the first half-hour thanks to winger Stephan El Shaarawy and striker. Andrea Belotti.
The highlight of this friendly match is not a technical issue, but Mourinho's confusing substitution situation. Minute 78, when Partizani Tirana was deploying the ball in his own half, "Special One" came close to the touchline and asked Aouar to leave the field.
The French midfielder followed his teacher's instructions but could not hide his confusion. At the touchline, Mourinho put his arm around Aouar's shoulder to explain and then the two teachers and students went to the reserve area.
According to Corriere dello Sport, there are two reasons for Mourinho's unprecedented decision. Firstly, the Portuguese coach withdrew Aouar from the field to balance the numbers between the two teams because at that time, Partizani Tirana was playing with 10 players.
In the second half, coach Zoran Zekic made the mistake of putting on the player who had been substituted earlier. Partizani Tirana's head coach then realized the mistake and asked the referee to continue to change, but was not denied. Therefore, the landlord must kick the lack of people.
The second reason is that Aouar is closely followed by Partizani Tirana and constantly fouls. Therefore, Mourinho withdrew the 25-year-old midfielder from the field as a precaution against injury when Serie A season 2023-2024 will start this weekend.
After Aouar left the field, Partizani Tirana improved the game and shortened the score thanks to T. Cara's penalty kick in the 85th minute. This was also Roma's last momentum before meeting Salernitana at the Olimpico Stadium in the opening round. Serie A August 20.
This summer, Roma have recruited Houssem Aouar (Lyon) and Evan Ndicka (Frankfurt) on free transfers, and loaned duo Diego Llorente and Rasmus Kristensen from Leeds United.
Roma also signed midfield duo Leandro Paredes and Renato Sanches from PSG. These two players have no future in Paris and have turned down other offers because they want to join Roma. In particular, Roma will buy Paredes outright and borrow Sanches with the option to buy it outright.
Mourinho's team also reached an agreement with Atalanta on the loan of striker Duvan Zapata with an option to buy. The deal will be approved once Zapata agrees on personal terms with Roma. Finally, Roma have not given up on Santos' Marcos Leonardo talent.
In the opposite direction, Roma sold Benjamin Tahirovic, Justin Kluivert, Filippo Missori, Cristian Volpato and Gonzalo Villar. Center-back Roger Ibanez and midfielder Nemanja Matic are expected to leave the club to join Al Ahli and Rennes respectively in the coming days.
