Mourinho: Are we sure Juventus don´t have 59 points? We are in Italy

Jose Mourinho could not resist a dig at Serie A rivals Juventus after seeing his Roma side secure a crucial 1-0 win at Torino on Saturday.

Paulo Dybala’s eighth-minute penalty was enough for the Giallorossi, sending them into third place after Milan and Inter both drew on Friday.

Juve lost 2-1 at Lazio to leave the Bianconeri on 44 points, nine adrift of Mourinho’s side, though the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss is not convinced that will remain the case.

The appeal Juve lodged against their 15-point penalty for transfer fee irregularities will be heard on April 19, meaning the top-four picture could eventually look very different.

Speaking after the win in Turin, Mourinho did not care about the quality of the performance, just the three points, before referencing Juve’s situation.

“Matches are won when you score one more goal than your opponent,” he told DAZN. “This is the goal not only in football but in sport: you have to win by trying to exploit your qualities and try to hide the problems.

“We are third in the standings? Are we sure that Juve don’t have 59 points? We are in Italy.”

2 – Since 2004-05, Paulo #Dybala (11 goals, 6 assists) is the second player to score more than 10 goals and deliver more than 5 assists on his season debut with #ASRoma in a single #SerieA campaign after Mohamed Salah (2015/16). Leader.#TorinoRoma pic.twitter.com/FhfvYDTWx9

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 8, 2023

Since 2004-05, Dybala (11 goals, six assists) is only the second player to score more than 10 goals and record more than five assists in a debut season for Roma in Serie A, after Mohamed Salah in 2015-16.

Roma have nine league games remaining as well as their upcoming Europa League quarter-final against Feyenoord, and Mourinho is hopeful of success on both fronts despite what he sees as squad limitations.

“The opponent that worries me the most in the Champions League fight? Ourselves, the fact that we want to think like a great team but we have a squad with limits,” he said.

“We have three games a week and it’s hard for us, but I’m not capable of thinking small. We go ahead from game to game.

“I’m not able to say that Udinese is less important than Feyenoord – let’s think game by game. Today we didn’t score a second goal, otherwise the game would have been completely different.”