Mourinho After Inter Defeat: “I love my Roma and I am very sad tonight because we lost.”

Returning to the sight of arguably his greatest professional triumph—the 2009-2010 European Treble—was always bound to cause some conflicted emotions for José Mourinho. The Special One certainly isn't lacking for accolades but as one of only six managers to win the European Treble, he'll always be best-known for that exceedingly rare feat; one that has earned him a special place in the hearts of Inter Milan fans the world over.

Despite that inextricable bond, Mourinho came to the San Siro with one purpose: topple his former employer and advance to the Coppa Italia semifinals; a plan that came undone after only 120 seconds. With an Edin Dzeko strike in only the second minute, the Nerazzurri made quick work of Roma. And while the Giallorossi mounted a valiant comeback effort in the second half, it wasn't long before they fell prey to their greatest tormentor: shot accuracy.

With only one on-target attempt the entire match and a meager 42% possession, Roma never stood a chance. Now that the quest for the club's 10th Coppa Italia is officially in the books, Mourinho's men are free to focus on more pertinent pursuits: scratching and clawing their way back into Serie A's top four while simultaneously attempting to win the inaugural Europa Conference League.

There will be plenty of time to discuss Roma's pursuit of those goals, so in the meantime, here are some of the best bits from Mourinho's brief post-match press conference—which was really more of a quick, three-minute interview.

On his conflicted emotions coming into this match and Roma's performance therein:

They are two completely different aspects that can co-exist together. The way I was welcomed here, the way Mr Zhang {the Inter president], Mr Marotta [the former Inter president] and Javier [Zanetti] welcomed me and the beautiful gift they gave me before the game … that’s the emotional side of it, which I can only thank them for and I could never hide away from. The relationship I have with Inter and its people is eternal, that cannot be denied.

But I’ve came here tonight to win, I’m here for my Roma and my people now are the Roma fans. We were not able to win the game. We shouldn’t forget the first five minutes but, if I could somehow block those five minutes from my mind, I would say that Roma played really well against a side that it is not easy to play well against.

In the first half we had two great chances to score, the first one I thought was in [when Danilo D’Ambrosio’s deflection looped over the bar] and then for the second Nico [Zaniolo] had a great opening. In the second half, with every minute that went by the game was more and more in our favour: we had control, we pressed well, we covered things well in midfield and then started to attack with quality in the final third. We didn’t create many clear chances, but that’s because obviously Inter have great defenders who are very good one-against-one. Nevertheless, it was a good performance.

The second goal clearly changed the game, and I think it changed for the referee too. Tactically he was very good: he refereed the game one way until it got to 2-0 and then he started to referee it another way. Referees can be good with the tactics too and I think he was very clever tonight

On Nicolo Zaniolo's harsh treatment from referees and opponents;

I won’t talk about it any more, because things don’t change. It’s been like this since the start of the season. That’s why I said the referee was very clever: I’m thinking about all the yellow cards there were and the ones that weren’t given. For us it is very easy to pick them up it seems. But after it was 2-0 the game changed and he whistled for things in a different way. Only a really good referee can do that and he is a really good referee

And finally, on the gift he received from Inter Milan prior to the match;

A beautiful model of the stadium – I think it’s made of silver and crystal – with the inscription ‘San Siro is your home’. And, yes, it will always be home to me. But I don’t want people to forget that Roma is my home. I love my Roma and I am very sad tonight because we lost.

Watch that clip above and you'll see a rather subdued Mourinho, who seems like he's starting to understand—little by little—the enormity of the challenge he signed up for last May.

He'll get his next chance to right the ship when Roma hits the road to face Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon.

Until then!