Roma head coach Jose Mourinho still feels a strong bond with Inter, and even felt it in this evening’s Coppa Italia clash with the Nerazzurri.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset after the match, the Portuguese coach opened up about guiding his current team through the match while still feeling connected to his old side Inter.

Mourinho was once again unable to get the better of his former side in his second meeting with them since returning to Italian football, this time in the Coppa Italia, with the Giallorossi falling to a 2-0 defeat to Inter.

The coach was disappointed with the result though still proud of how his team played on the night in spite of the result.

However, he also felt all the emotions of returning to the San Siro to face Inter, a team that he won the European treble with in an historic season for both the coach and the club.

“Tonight I had to deal with two different and contrasting feelings, my emotional ones and concentrating on the pitch,” he said.

“The way in which Zhang, Marotta, and Zanetti greeted me here, the gift, the people who met me and made me feel welcome,” he went on, “I can only say thank you, and I can never hide my eternal connection with Inter.”

“But I came here to win with my Roma team,” he went on. “We didn’t succeed, but apart from the first five minutes I though that we played very well against a team who make it very difficult to do so.”

He added that “We also controlled the ball, obviously not creating much because we came up against top-quality opposition.”

“Then the second goal went in and changed the game,” he added, “also that of the referee who did really well tonight.”

The Roma coach thanked the Inter players and staff for gifting him “A beautiful San Siro replica, made of silver and crystal, with a message that this stadium will always be my home.”

“But I don’t want to forget that I also love Roma and I’m sorry to have been eliminated,” he added.

Mourinho also spoke about recent comments about refereeing in Roma’s matches, stating that “I don’t speak anymore. Nothing changes anyway, it’s been that way since the beginning of the season.”

“That’s why I said that the referee was tactically very good here,” he went on. “Lots of yellow cards not given. Only a quality referee knows how to do this, and he is a quality referee.”