Jose Mourinho cannot do anything to help the Italian team, Roma yet, as it is still up to Paolo Fonseca to lead the team tonight in the second leg of the European League semi-final against Manchester United.
Manchester United scored 5 goals in the second half to beat Roma 6-2 in the semi-final first-leg, and it seems unlikely that Roma will be able to compensate for the loss two days after it was announced that Mourinho will coach the team at the start of the new season, succeeding his Portuguese compatriot Fonseca.
It seems that an English final, for the second time in the last 3 years, is about to happen on May 26th in Gdansk, as Arsenal need to win 1-0 against Villarreal to qualify for the final match after losing the first leg in Spain 2-1.
Arsenal lost the final in 2019 to Chelsea 4-1.
Manchester United won the European League in 2017, but their victory is not taken for granted despite their good lead against Roma.
Midfielder Paul Pogba warned, "It's not over yet. We must maintain our focus and play the next match with the same mindset."
And Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's coach agreed. "I don't feel the job is over, but we have done the job well. We did a good job but we know they are a good team."
Manchester United will enter their match against Roma after getting enough time to rest, especially since his match against Liverpool was postponed after fans stormed the stadium before the start of the match, in protest against the club's owners.
At the same time, Roma lost two goals without a response to Sampdoria, and remained seventh in the Italian League, which is expected to change in the Mourinho era, starting next summer.
On the other hand, Arsenal has one real chance to play in Europe next season, especially as the team offers a bad local season, and this opportunity is to win the European League, where the winner participates in the Champions League.
The "Gunners" were far from glory in the first-leg match against Villarreal, whose coach Unai Emery won the European League title 3 times with Seville, and had coached Arsenal before.
In a statement that appeared to want him to take the pressure off his team, Emery said that Arsenal were the favorites to reach the final.
For Villarreal, Mano Trigrios and Raul Albiol scored in the first leg, while the "Gunners" suffered from numerical shortages with the dismissal of midfielder Danny Ceballos.
But a controversial penalty kick awarded to Arsenal after Bocayo Saka was fouled and scored by Nicolas Pepe, kept the team's hopes of qualifying through the rematch.
Villarreal managed to qualify in 15 out of 16 home and away matches, and won the first leg of the European Championships.
The only exception, however, was against an English team at the same stage in the same tournament, when Villarreal played against Liverpool in 2016.
"The outcome of the first match will not change my initial opinion about that competition," Emery said at a pre-match press conference.
He added, "Arsenal was and still is a candidate, so the difference in the first-leg result is not great to make the difference."
"We must try to compete with these types of teams," Emery said. "Arsenal is strong in terms of team structure and can possess and position well, so its players have speed and talent."
While Emery feels his team are the less fortunate, he has made sure to highlight the importance of Villarreal's achievement.
"It's a wonderful moment for us," said Emery.