Bodo/Glimt thrashing scarred Mourinho and now AS Roma must prove it was a fluke

Jose Mourinho appeared a bit petulant during his press conference ahead of Thursday’s Europa Conference League game against Bodo/Glimt. But it was understandable.

Having suffered a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of the Norwegian minnows, the Portuguese manager is still reeling from such a heavy defeat.

Even worse for AS Roma, their form has been slumping in recent weeks after a bright start to the season. The Giallorossi will go into the game against Bodo/Glimt on the back of a 2-1 defeat at the weekend against AC Milan.

Roma, however, sit second in Group C with six points. A win would take them to the top and further enhance their chances of qualifying for the next round of the competition.

Roma target revenge after Bodo/Glimt thrashing

Usually, when a superior team loses to a minnow, it is termed as an upset. In the case of Bodo/Glimt, though, they have been a revelation in the Europa Conference League this season.

The Norwegian side are unbeaten in the competition and currently sit at the top of their group with seven points. This only points to the fact that they’ve been that good.

Roma would, therefore, have to be at their best to enact revenge on their opponents. The 6-1 loss – Mourinho’s biggest defeat of his managerial career – came as a huge surprise and Roma must now prove it was a fluke.

One could argue that the Giallorossi played a weakened side against Bodo/Glimt in the reverse fixture and rightly so. But they have a second chance to put things right and cannot afford to blow it up.

Mourinho is facing his first difficult period since joining Roma

It is increasingly looking like Mourinho’s grace period is over. The Portuguese manager started his Roma tenure with six straight wins in all competitions.

However, the Serie A side have now won just once in their last five matches. Mourinho has also lost his unbeaten Serie A home record after his side were beaten by AC Milan.

A win in their next game, though, could lift the mood around the club.

"It’s not a vital game and it's not a game with lots of pressure on it," Mourinho said ahead of Thursday's game, as quoted by AS Roma’s official website.

"But we want to finish first, we want to win the game. We don't want to forget about the game in Bodo because I don’t think we ever could forget a game like that – but we want to win tomorrow.

"We got everything wrong in Bodo. I don't want to say that 'just this' or 'just that' was at fault. We lost as a team. And tomorrow we want to win as a team."

It has been a difficult past few weeks for the club and its manager but winning against Bodo/Glimt could spark the renaissance they need to get back on track.