Mourinho blasted over ‘ugly’ tactics as Roma park the bus against Leverkusen to reach Europa League final

Jose Mourinho was blasted over "ugly" tactics as Roma parked the bus to come out unscathed against Bayer Leverkusen to reach the Europa League final.

The Romans put in a gritty performance at the back to hold Leverkusen to a goalless draw in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final to progress to the final, having beaten them 1-0 a week ago in Rome. They sat deep inside their half and defended with their bodies on the line to survive the hosts' relentless attacks on goal.

In fact, Xabi Alonso's men had 23 attempts, and yet they could not find a way to beat Rui Patricio between the sticks. On the contrary, Roma failed to register a single shot on target and instead resorted to time-wasting tactics to run down the clock.

Leverkusen midfielder Kerem Demirbay was visibly frustrated with the tactics of Roma and lashed out at Mourinho while speaking to RTL after the match: "It’s a shame that in a semi-final at such a high level that this type of play can be rewarded. They made things very ugly at the end."

Despite reaching a second European final in two years, after guiding Roma to victory in the Europa Conference League last season, Mourinho kept his emotions in check and refrained from doing his trademark celebratory run on the pitch.

When asked if he was physically fine, Mourinho replied: "No, it’s not an agility problem. Experience doesn’t come into it because you still feel the pressure during these moments in the same way. You feel the same joy too. It doesn’t change anything," Mourinho said.

"To tell you the truth, it’s very hard for me to come up against my friends because while you may forget during the game, it’s tough afterwards. I don’t like celebrating in front of my guys and the person doing an extraordinary job out there, Xabi, is one of mine. That’s why I struggle."

The Portuguese had managed Alonso during his stint with Real Madrid and shares a close bond with the Spaniard.

Roma will be back in action against Salernitana on Monday in Serie A before travelling to Budapest Sevilla in the Europa League final at the Puskas Arena on May 31.