Roma boss Jose Mourinho expresses concerns over referee and VAR ahead of Sassuolo clash

Roma boss Jose Mourinho has expressed his concerns about refereeing and VAR, ahead of the Giallorossiโ€™s Serie A clash against Sassuolo.

Roma were recently held to a 1-1 draw by Servette in the Europa League, leaving Mourinho to question the attitudes of some of his players โ€“ especially Houssem Aouar. Roma are currently fifth in the Serie A, three points off fourth placed Napoli in the table.

They take on Sassuolo in their next game tomorrow and they could cut the gap on Napoli, who take on Inter. But ahead of the game, Mourinho spoke about refereeing and VAR.ย 

He said (via La Gazzetta dello Sport): โ€œWe always have difficulties against them (Sassuolo), then Iโ€™m honest and the referee worries me. Weโ€™ve had him several times and he doesnโ€™t have the stability for matches of this level. His profile doesnโ€™t leave me at peace, as does the VAR (Di Bello).โ€

Mourinho also spoke about Domenico Berardi, saying: โ€œAnd then thereโ€™s Berardi, heโ€™s a fantastic player but he needs to have a little more respect for his opponents. What he does to make fun of his opponents and get fouls is too much. I love the player he is but I donโ€™t like him at all.โ€

The Roma boss also clarified his comments from after the Servette draw, saying that the matter has been spoken about privately with the players he intended to speak about.

He said: โ€œItโ€™s a waste of time if anyone thinks Iโ€™m going to name the players I was referring to. Today I spoke internally between us. The more positive the relationship, the easier it is to go back to topics and say bad things. I said what I thought and continue to think so.โ€

Mourinhoโ€™s comments about referees arenโ€™t rare and he has a strange relationship with officials, having previously been involved in legal cases with two referees last season.

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Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN

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