José Mourinho’s Roman chapter was never confined to results. Across two and a half years, he became part of the city’s footballing language: the packed Olimpico, the revived expectation and the sense that every home afternoon could become an occasion. On Wednesday evening, Roma supporters will have the chance to welcome back a coach whose departure in January 2024 never felt like a proper farewell.
The coach and the club
Roma made their move on 4 May 2021, announcing Mourinho on a three-year contract while Paulo Fonseca was still in charge of the first team. The brief statement initially brought disbelief across the capital. Within hours, however, the appointment had changed the mood around the club.
Mourinho arrived at Ciampino on 2 July, landing at 14:30 on a private flight piloted by Roma owner and president Dan Friedkin. Around 1,000 supporters waited in intense summer heat. Mourinho greeted them wearing a yellow-and-red scarf, with chants and banners around him.
The bond was quickly supplied with images that went beyond the training ground. On 6 July, Mourinho travelled through Trigoria on a Vespa, moving between the pitches and his office. Roma’s video of the moment spread widely, evoking the Rome of Roman Holiday and later inspiring a mural in Testaccio.
Moments that shaped the relationship
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On 12 September 2021, Mourinho took charge of his 1,000th match as a coach when Roma hosted Sassuolo. With the score still 1-1 in the 91st minute, Stephan El Shaarawy curled in the winner. Mourinho ran towards the Curva Sud in celebration, a sprint that recalled Carlo Mazzone’s famous reaction after a 3-0 derby victory.
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Roma lost Mourinho’s first derby 3-2, but on 20 March 2022 they answered emphatically. A Tammy Abraham double and a Lorenzo Pellegrini goal sealed a 3-0 win over Lazio. The defeat in the first meeting had clearly stayed with Mourinho, and the return brought a visible release.
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On 25 May 2022, Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 in Tirana to win the first Europa Conference League. Nicolò Zaniolo scored the only goal. Mourinho celebrated with the emotion of a coach who knew he had delivered a first European trophy for the club, after a difficult spell at Tottenham.
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At the start of the following campaign, on 17 July 2022, Mourinho revealed a tattoo on his right forearm showing the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League trophies. It marked his status as the first coach to complete that European treble, an achievement he continued to regard with pride.
Budapest, the Curva Sud and the final break
Not every defining night ended in celebration. On 1 June 2023, Roma lost the Europa League final to Sevilla on penalties in Budapest. The aftermath was marked by anger over a handball involving Fernando that Roma believed should have brought a penalty, as well as the decision not to send off Erik Lamela.
Mourinho confronted English referee Anthony Taylor in the stadium garage after the match. UEFA subsequently handed the Roma coach a four-match suspension.
By then, the feeling between Mourinho and the support had already become unusually personal. Before the Fiorentina match on 10 December 2023, the Curva Sud displayed a banner declaring: “Eyes intoxicated by yellow and red, a soul filled with Roman identity. José Mourinho, Romanista for life.” Mourinho appeared moved, but gestured for everyone to focus on the match.
The relationship with the club’s hierarchy ended the following month. Roma dismissed Mourinho on the morning of 16 January 2024, shortly after a 3-1 defeat away to Milan at San Siro. As he left, supporters lined his route and applauded him, with tears visible among the crowd and the coach himself.
Mourinho later gave his own blunt assessment of that decision, saying he had been “sacked by people who understand nothing about football.” The sentence underlined the rupture with the club, but not the attachment that had grown between the Portuguese coach and Roma’s public.
That is why his return carries more than the weight of a former manager’s visit. It recalls a period of victory, frustration, controversy and an Olimpico that rediscovered how deeply it could invest in one man on the touchline.
