Jose’s back as he sets his sights on Leicester

BACK in England as a competitor for the first time since his sacking by Tottenham, Jose Mourinho has regained his appetite for the fight — while trying to end Leicester’s dreams of a first European trophy. Nearly two decades after leading Porto to a UEFA Cup triumph against Celtic, he’s attempting to make Roma the first winners of the Europa Conference League. When he left Spurs, he looked diminished but, judging by his remarks in recent weeks, confrontational Jose is back. ‘I had the sensation it would be difficult, if not impossible, to leave here with a positive result,’ he said after a 1-1 draw at Napoli on April 18, expressing fury at ref Marco Di Bello. A week later, another barb as Roma’s 12-match unbeaten run ended in a 3-1 defeat at Inter Milan. ‘Well done to the referee, Simone Sozza,’ he said. ‘If he’d have been in charge at Napoli, we’d have won.’ Three days before the derby against Lazio in March, Mourinho made fun of Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri’s smoking habit. ‘Tonight we had to play in Europe while Lazio were at home smoking cigarettes with Sarri,’ he sniped. He wasn’t quite so chipper last October. The early-season bounce had fallen flat and his team were beaten 6-1 by Bodo Glimt. There was even talk Mourinho could go. Yet he immediately showed the decisiveness of old. He brought the best out of Tammy Abraham, the £34million signing from Chelsea who has scored 24 goals this season, and gave opportunities to youngsters like Nicola Zalewski, Edoardo Bove and Felix Afena-Gyan. The switch to a back three brought greater solidity and helped Roma to fifth in Serie A, with a strong chance of securing qualification for next season’s Europa League. Now their run to the last four of the Conference League has spirits soaring and the second leg against Leicester at the 73,000-capacity Stadio Olimpico is a sell-out. Unlike in his final days at Chelsea and Old Trafford, Mourinho has a united squad behind him. Part of the coaching staff at Chelsea during Mourinho’s first spell, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said: ‘He has nothing to prove and is one of the greats of management. We’ll have to be at our best to reach the final.’ Kick-off: 8pm, King Power Stadium. TV: LIVE on BT Sport 3. Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain).