Jose Mourinho sacked by Roma as manager

Jose Mourinho has left Serie A side Roma with immediate effect.

Mourinho’s contract was up at the end of the season but, following their 3-1 defeat to AC Milan on Sunday and with the club in ninth in Serie A, the owners and the manager have parted ways.

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It brings an end to Mourinho’s spell at the club, which started in May 2021 and saw him win the Europa Conference League title in 2022 and reached the Europa League final last season.

“We would like to thank José on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for his passion and efforts since his arrival at the club,” said owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin.

“We will always have great memories of his tenure at Roma, but we believe that an immediate change is in the best interests of the club. We wish José and his assistants all the best in their future endeavours.”

Mourinho’s three years at Roma peaked with them winning the Europa Conference League title against Feyenoord in Tirana. It was their first trophy in 11 years in their first European final since 1991.

But after a tough 2023-24 season, the final straw appears to be the defeat to AC Milan at the weekend. It came after a poor run of form when Roma were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by local rivals Lazio on Jan. 10, and had just one win in six league matches. But just last week, he was reiterating his commitment to the club. “I’ve been here for two years and five months and I’m the only person here who hasn’t missed a single training session in that time,” Mourinho said. “For me, there are no illnesses or bad moods.

“For two and a half years I haven’t done anything wrong, not even a couple of weeks ago when everyone was sick. I do not accept in any way that my professionalism and dignity, my heart for this job, can be questioned. If there is a perfect example of professionalism, it is me. I have never missed one match in over 20 years of my career.”

Mourinho joined Roma in 2021 following a career that saw him manage FC Porto, Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham. He took the Roma job just 15 days after being sacked at Spurs.

One of his final acts at Roma was to compare himself to Harry Potter.

“The Roma fans are the most incredible I have seen,” Mourinho said. “Their coach is Jose ‘Harry Potter’ Mourinho, and he raises expectations.”