Roma boss Jose Mourinho is relishing a reunion with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso when the two sides meet in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.
Mourinho was Alonso’s manager at Real Madrid between 2010 to 2013.
Together, they won the La Liga title, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
“I haven’t seen him for a long time,” said Mourinho. “We’ve always had a fantastic rapport, more than between a coach and a player.”
Alonso, who took charge of Leverkusen last October, is also looking forward to facing Mourinho as a manager for the first time.
“Of course, it’s special for me to play against him,” said the former Liverpool midfielder.
“I had a great time with him and I learned a lot from him. Mourinho knows how to inspire a team and he was always a leader.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him, but when the game starts I will be completely focused on the events on the pitch and I will dedicate all my energy exclusively to working with my team.”
Roma have reached the semi-final of a European competition for a third consecutive season, but are in a difficult run of form at the moment having failed to win any of their last four games.
Mourinho expects a tough challenge from Alonso’s side, who he believes are one of Europe’s best teams on the counter-attack.
“They are very dangerous in this moment of the game, they defend, wait for the opponent to lose the ball and then it’s difficult to stop them,” he added.
“He uses the style that suits his players more, five or six of them could run the 100m with Marcell Jacobs at the Olympics.”
