Jose Mourinho was sent off for the third time this season during AS Roma’s 2-1 defeat to Cremonese on Monday (February 27). The Italian side’s head coach has now threatened legal action against Marco Serra, who served as the fourth official during the match.
Mourinho was sent off just after half-time after losing his cool with the fourth official. After a war of words with Serra, match referee Marco Piccinini gave him his marching orders.
The match looked to be heading for a draw when Leonardo Spinazzola canceled out Frank Tsadjout’s goal. However, an 83rd-minute goal from Daniel Ciofani saw Cremonese take all three points and register their first win of the season.
While Mourinho said Roma have only themselves to blame for the defeat, he also warned he could ‘take legal action’ against fourth official Serra. He said (via Daily Star):
“I am emotional, but not crazy. In order to react the way I did, something had to happen first. I need to understand if I can take any legal action. Piccinini gave me a red card, because unfortunately the fourth official does not have the capacity to understand what he said to me.
He added:
“I want to find out if there is an audio recording. I don’t want to get into the fact that Serra is from Turin and on Sunday we are playing against Juventus. For the first time in my career, a fourth official spoke to me in the most incredible way. It was unjustifiable. At the end of the game, I went to speak to them.”
Jose Mourinho linked with moves to Chelsea and PSG
Chelsea have reportedly joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the race for AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho.
PSG have reportedly contacted Mourinho amid doubts over Christophe Galtier. The Frenchman succeeded Mauricio Pochettino last summer but has struggled to deal with big egos at the Parc des Princes.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea have already made contact about Mourinho’s availability at the end of the season. The Portuguese coach’s contract with Roma expires in 2024 and there has been no talk of an extension.
Mourinho has previously enjoyed two successful spells with the Blues, leading them to three Premier League titles, two League Cups and one FA Cup. He left the Blues after his second stint in 2015.
