Jose Mourinho plays down legendary status as Roma boss secures back-to-back European finals with the Giallorossi

• Roma won the tie against Leverkusen
• Sealed their berth in the UEL final
• Mourinho played down place in Roma history

WHAT HAPPENED? It was another Mourinho masterclass in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen as Roma churned out a hard-fought goalless draw at the BayArena on Thursday evening to advance to the final. Edoardo Bove's strike in the first leg was enough to help the Romans have a shot at a European trophy in successive years after winning the Conference League in the previous campaign, which was their first major European trophy in history.

Despite guiding Roma to such heights within a couple of years of taking charge, Mourinho remained humble in his response and insisted that he is not concerned with his place in Roma's history books.

WHAT THEY SAID: "My concern isn’t marking my place in the Roma history books. It’s helping these kids to grow, to achieve important things. It’s also helping the Roma fans who have given me so much since day one. It’s an immense joy to get to another final," he told Sky Sport after the match.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mourinho also said his side were tactically superior to Leverkusen and believes it was the "small details" coupled with the experience of his players that helped them get over the line.

"If we don’t have [Chris] Smalling on the bench, maybe we don’t win this game. We lost [Leonardo] Spinazzola and then [Mehmet] Celik, if we didn’t have him at that moment it would have been very difficult," he continued.

"The small details make the difference. We can also thank Bove, who played from out of position on the right-hand side. The boys give everything, this game is the result of our work, experience, tactical wisdom, and knowing how to stay in matches. It’s an incredible team."

AND WHAT'S MORE: The Portuguese manager is already thinking about the final and admitted that it would be "very difficult" for them to face Sevilla, the record-winners of the tournament.

"Three finalists is a good thing for Italian football. Sevilla and Juventus are two very strong teams, but my concern wasn’t to draw one of the two, but getting there first. It will be very difficult for us," he concluded.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Mourinho will next rally his troops against Salernitana on Monday in Serie A before shifting his attention to the all-important final against Sevilla on May 31 in Budapest.