Jose Mourinho had a Roma reunion to remember as Real Madrid completed a stellar comeback by scoring three late goals to claim a 4-3 win in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Marten de Roon (21st min) gave the hosts a deserved opener before Kylian Mbappe (25th min) equalised on his 100th Champions League appearance.
Jose Mourinho
Donyell Malen (51st and 57th min) brace in the space of six minutes seemed to take the game away from the 15-time European champs. But Real scored three goals in the final six minutes, all stemming from corners, to turn the game on its head as Carlos Espi (83rd min), Endrick (85th min) and Antonio Rudiger (90th min) struck at a stunned Stadio Olimpico.
Reflecting on the match, Mourinho admitted that he was tactically outwitted by his counter-part Gian Piero Gasperini in the first half, but knew he had the firepower on the bench that could make the difference.
“I knew their [Roma’s] energy would run out eventually. It’s impossible to play 90 minutes at the pace they play. I’m not going to be a genius saying I had prepared everything to go from 3-1 down to winning 4-3. But I truly thought that in the last 20 minutes, my changes could make a difference for us,” said the Portuguese manager.