Journalist finds 'secret agent' Jose Mourinho's 'cheat sheet' after Roma's win over Real Sociedad

Jose Mourinho's 'cheat sheet' was found by a journalist after Roma's win over Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday night.

The Giallorossi, who qualified for this season's competition after winning the Europa Conference League last term, beat the Basque outfit 2-0 in the round of 16 first leg at the Stadio Olimpico courtesy of goals from Stephan El Shaarawy and Marash Kumbulla.

After the game, reporter and commentator Tommaso Turci was down near the Roma bench and found notes from Mourinho - who is known for doing plenty of scribblings on his pad during matches.

But the two-time Champions League winner knows the game inside and out and did not leave behind any traces of vital information for anyone to stumble upon.

Turci found the paper but it was all completely ripped up. He tried to put it back together in a puzzle but despite seeing the name of Tammy Abraham, Roma's No.9 and top goalscorer, it was difficult to make sense of it.

Nevertheless, he posted the footage to TikTok, titling the video: "Mourinho's tattered notes at the end of Roma-Real Sociedad" and garnering over 100,000 views.

Image: Alamy

Roma, currently take a two-goal cushion to Sociedad for the second leg at the Reale Arena but Mourinho wasn't all that pleased after the win.

He joked about his lack of attacking options on the bench, comparing it to the substitutes Bayern Munich were able to call upon against Paris Saint-Germain.

"We only had one striker on the bench. Solbakken wasn't even there," Mourinho said in his post-match presser.

"In the second half, I remembered yesterday's [Wednesday] match in which Bayern [Munich] had [Serge] Gnabry, [Sadio] Mané and [Leroy] Sane on the bench - just one of them would be enough for me.

"Like this, I could have replaced Dybala and perhaps score one more goal. El Shaarawy also plays behind and it's hard for him. The boys are fantastic."

Roma return to league action on Sunday with a home game against Sassuolo. They are just one point behind rivals Lazio and three behind second-placed Inter.

Topics: Jose Mourinho, AS Roma, Real Sociedad, Europa League

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

@joshlawless_