IF anyone knows what it takes to win a European Trophy, it’s Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese gaffer has tasted European success on no fewer than four occasions (two Champions Leagues & two UEFA/Europa Leagues). Tonight he can add a new title to his list of honours when his AS Roma side take on Feyenoord in the Europa Conference League final in Tirana, Albania.
Sitting in the other dugout will be the relatively inexperienced Dutchman, Arne Slot. The 43-year-old is yet to win any kind of silverware in his managerial career but this is only his first season in charge of the former European Champions following a successful, if brief, stint in charge of AZ Alkmaar.
Slot led Feyenoord to third place in Eredivisie this season, 12 points behind champions Ajax, and their run to tonight’s final saw them dispose of Marseille, Slavia Prague and Partizan Belgrade after they topped a group, which also included Slavia as well as Union Berlin and Maccabi Haifa. Despite only scoring 11 goals in the group stages they outgunned the opposition in the knockout stages winning 8-3 (v Partizan), 6-4 (v Slavia) and 3-2 (v Marseille).
Roma dug deep to carve out their route to the final. A 6-1 defeat at Bodo/Glimt in the group stages rasied some eyebrows, and some laughs at Mourinho’s expense, but his side recovered to top Group C, scoring an impressive 18 goals in their six matches.
The knock-out stages required some Mourinho-esque performances as the dug deep to squeeze past Vitesse (2-1 on aggregate) and Leicester (also 2-1) either side of handing out some revenge to Bodo/Glimt with a 4-0 win in Rome after the Norwegians beat them for a second time in the Arctic Circle.
So which Roma can we expect to see tonight? In 2010 Mourinho delivered a masterclass when his Inter Milan side knocked out out peak Barcelona before beating heavily-fancied Bayern Munich in the final. Tonight his team carries the weight of favouritism at 11/8 to win inside the 90 minutes much like in his other three European final successes.
It might be a third tier European Competition but there’s no doubt that Mourinho would love to add it to his CV and for the Italians it’s the chance to win their first continental trophy since 1961.
Feyenoord can be backed at 21/10 to win in 90 minutes and the draw can’t ruled out at 23/10 either, we’ve seen plenty of those already this season’s finals in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup, Europa League and Scottish Cup so far.
Roma look to have slightly more quality in their squad than the Dutch side and if push comes to shove the Mourinho-factor can’t be ignored at 7/5.
Super Single
- Roma to win in 90 minutes 7/5 SBK
Upcoming Match Previews & Tips
- Football Bet of the Day: League Leaders Lillestrøm to collect another three points
- SlipsTips Tips: Roma vs Feyenoord Bet Builder
- Wed 20:00 Roma v Feyenoord
Racing Tips
All three of Rizzel’s selections come at Beverley for Wednesdays Horse Racing tips.
Golf Tips
We’re off to Texas for this week’s PGA Tour event. As wver The Caddy has picked out his three fancies for the Charles Schwab Challenge including him keeping the faith with one of his selections who came so close last weekend.
- Golf Betting Tips: Charles Schwab Challenge Preview & Predictions
As always, let us know your tips and predictions for today in the comments section below and good luck with all your bets!
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