AS Roma and Feyenoord will lock horns with each other in Albania tonight to become the inaugural winners of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The tertiary continental competition in Europe is in its first edition and has thrown some surprises towards the fans along the way, including the early elimination of a big club like Tottenham and Roma’s 6-1 hammering at the hands of minnows Bodo/Glimt in the group stages. The Giallorossi did not let that outlier affect them, though, as they finished at the top of Group C to progress to the knockout phase.
Roma narrowly beat Dutch side Vitesse 2-1 on aggregate in the Round of 16 before overturning a first-leg deficit to eliminate Bodo/Glimt from the quarter-finals with a 5-2 aggregate victory. Jose Mourinho’s men then managed to get the better of Premier League side Leicester City over two legs in the semi-finals to book a place in the final at Tirana as they hope to win their first trophy since 2008.
Will Jose Mourinho and Roma get their hands on the trophy tonight? Join the discussion and share your views
5 – José Mourinho is the fifth manager to take charge of a club in the final of three different major European competitions (also Arsène Wenger, Giovanni Trapattoni, Udo Lattek, Sven-Göran Eriksson). Mastermind.
22&327 - Nicolò Zaniolo (22 years, 327 days) is the youngest Italian player to score in a final of a major European competition since Alessandro Del Piero (22 years, 200 days) against Borussia Dortmund in Champions League in May 1997. Fearless.