José Mourinho reacted strongly to Zdeněk Zeman’s words after he commented on the Rome derby

AS Roma and Lazio Rome will clash in Sunday’s Serie A showpiece. Czech coach Zdenek Zeman, who has managed both Rome teams in the past, has expressed his preference.

Zdenek Zeman, the current coach of Calcio Foggia, said he favours coach Maurizio Sarri’s team (Lazio Rome) and criticised the play of AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho reacted strongly to this criticism. “Do you expect a coach who has won 25 trophies to react to someone who has won Serie B twice?”

“If you ask me about Giovanni Trapattoni or Fabio Capello, I’m happy to answer, but Zeman? Please. I can’t.”

Mourinho has made similar comments in the past. In 2009, while still coach of Inter Milan, he criticised Claudio Ranieri, then coach of AS Roma.

Zdenek Zeman managed AS Roma from 1997 to 1999 and then again from 2012 to 2013. He managed to bring, for example, Francesco Totti to big football. He played attractive football with the team and was very popular with the fans.

He was on the Lazio bench between 1994 and 1997 before leaving for AS. He finished 2nd and 3rd in the league with the team. Among the Czech players he managed Pavel Nedved and Marek Jankulovsky.

He managed to win Serie B with Calcio Foggia and in the 2011/12 season with Pescara, where Ciro Immobile (top scorer with 28 goals) was also a member.

Sources: GOAL Italia, Transfermarkt