SOCCER
Mourinho and Gasperini differ over Roma’s late collapse against Real Madrid
Mourinho explains his attacking changes in Madrid’s 4–3 comeback; Gasperini points to Roma’s response in the decisive minutes.
“I made changes at 3–1: conceding a fourth or fifth goal wouldn’t have changed much,” José Mourinho said, translated from Italian, in postgame comments reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Real Madrid coach was explaining his substitutions after Wednesday’s 4–3 Champions League win at Roma. Madrid recovered from 3–1 down, with Carlos Espí, Endrick and Antonio Rüdiger scoring late.
Mourinho credited Roma’s early superiority and attributed the turnaround partly to its inability to sustain that intensity. Gian Piero Gasperini rejected the physical explanation, pointing to Roma’s chances at 3–1 and Madrid’s attacking changes.
Gasperini instead described a failure to recognize the decisive moment. “We lacked a little personality at the end, including in understanding that it was the crucial moment,” the Roma coach said, translated from Italian, in Corriere dello Sport’s account of his postgame remarks.
