In the final that this evening will deliver the name of the winning team of the 2023/24 Conference League there is an element of particular concern at Fiorentinathe ability of mister Jose Luis Mendilibar of knowing how to win European cups. On the other hand, a fresh testimony arrived in the final of the last Europa League, even at the end of a contested match due to the refereeing decisions of the Englishman Taylor. In short, Roma knows this well.
This is the Spanish coach’s recipe for countering Fiorentina in the last act of the Conference League: “We must remain calm, calm, and do what brought us to the final. It would be a big mistake to change anything, given that so far everything has been positive. Let’s treat this match like the others, that’s the how we got here and we will have to continue like this.”
For him, the Europa League win against Roma a year ago was the first success of his career, tonight has the chance to inflict further disappointment on an Italian team in their second chance to win a trophy. Having arrived on the Greek bench last February 11th, Mendilibar was like a shock wave on the fate of the Piraeus team. He transformed a season on the brink of failure into the first European final in Olympiacos’ history, all in the space of just over three months. He has the opportunity to put the final icing on what would be a feat.