UECL final: Why we lost to Mourinho’s Roma – Feyenoord coach, Arne Slot

Feyenoord coach, Arne Slot has given reasons they lost 1-0 to Roma in Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League final.

Nicolo Zaniolo netted the winner for the Serie A side in the first half of the encounter in Albania.

Slot admitted that their problems came from choices the players made in the first half.

Although he admitted there was an improvement after the break, Roma managed by Jose Mourinho defended gallantly to preserve their lead.

“It’s always interesting to see how the first 15 minutes go. In that phase we had good control of the match. But a half is 45 minutes long, and our problems were to do with the choices our players made, with and without the ball.

“I told the players during the break what they had to do better. In the second half we were sharp from the first moment, but you need a bit of luck and we didn’t get it. We had the time and opportunity to score, and we didn’t. Maybe that’s to do with the quality of the opponent.

“In a final you don’t get tens of chances, you get a couple. In a final against an Italian team it’s especially difficult to create chances, and even more so when it’s an Italian team coached by Mourinho,” Slot said.