José Mourinho praises the ‘forgotten’ job Brendan Rodgers did at Liverpool

José Mourinho has said people forget about the impressive job Brendan Rodgers did in taking Liverpool to the cusp of securing the Premier League title on a tiny budget compared with the one Jürgen Klopp is working with, as his Roma team prepare to take on Leicester for a place in a European final.

Rodgers, who worked under Mourinho for three years at Chelsea, takes Leicester to the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday in the Europa Conference League semi-final with the tie finely poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg. Rodgers can lead the club to their first European final but Mourinho is determined to cap his first season at Roma with a 26th major title.

“I always say that there is only one match that I didn’t win, which is the next one,” Mourinho said.

“I want to win the next one always. If the next one is a semi-final, even more, because a semi-final gives you the right to play the final … if you are not sacked before the final,” he said, alluding to his dismissal by Tottenham before the Carabao Cup final. “Of course it is not just the next match, it is a special match and of course we want to win the competition.”

Of Rodgers, Mourinho said: “Brendan doesn’t surprise me. With Liverpool, people forget what he did with much, much less resources than Liverpool has now. He did amazing and then the Scottish history [with Celtic], people forget because people doesn’t focus much on Scottish Premier League. To win the [FA] Cup with Leicester and even the Community Shield, the stability in the club, the way they play, their recruitment, it is a perfect fit, Leicester and Brendan; very, very good.”

Mourinho is adamant a partisan crowd of about 70,000 home fans can spur on his team to victory and Rodgers, whose side prevailed against