Roma won the first-ever UEFA Europa Conference League final at Tirana‘s National Arena, Albania, by defeating Feyenoord 1-0.  

Nicolo Zaniolo’s goal gave Roma their first major European trophy in over 60 years, ending a drought since winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1961,  considered a forerunner to the UEFA Cup and Europa League. 

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Roma’s win completes a unique trophy haul for José Mourinho. The Roma coach  has also won the Champions League, Europa League, and the UEFA Cup. He can add the third-tier European crown to his trophy cabinet. 

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“Winning is difficult. You need many components to win,” Mourinho said in the post-match press conference. 

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Roma beat CSKA Sofia, Udinese, Empoli, Cagliari, Genoa, Zorya Luhansk, Torino, Spezia, Atlanta, Lecce, Vitesse, and Sampdoria in the group stages. Fiorentina, Inter, Verona, Lazio, Bodo/Glimt, Venezia, Bologna, and Milan were among the teams it lost to. 

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It drew with Venezia, Leicester City, Napoli, Vitesse, Udinese, Sassuolo, and Sampdoria. 

With 13 points, Roma topped the Group C table of the UEFA Europa League Conference League. It won four of six games. The team had to play more than 50 games to reach the finals.

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After pulling the ball down off his chest in the final match against Feyenoord, the 22-year-old Zaniolo guided it home with a left-footed touch in the 32nd minute. Chris Smalling was declared the man of the match for his performance.