At the Mapei Stadium, the players were in the tunnel getting ready to come out for the second half, but José Mourinho was walking back from the dugout to the locker room.
While he was going to get a team shirt to give to a young fan in a wheelchair he had seen beside the pitch, he temporarily forgot that Roma and Sassuolo were drawing 0-0.
Anyone who has followed Mourinho throughout his career could not be surprised by this gesture.
This is the same person who gave a Manchester United fan the jacket off his back and asked Inter staff to send him the first person in line for tickets to the Champions League final so he could give it to them.
Such generosity with individuals has always been part of his nature. And so has a habit for singling out scapegoats when things go wrong.
Tammy Abraham gave Roma the lead in the 80th minute, but Andrea Pinamonti drew even in the 84th, and the score remained 1-1.
Despite briefly taking the lead, Mourinho’s team only merited a draw because they were committed in the tackle but lacklustre on the ball. Their hosts had a better chance of success.
The post-game press conference was more interesting than the actual game.
“Our efforts were betrayed by a player with an unprofessional attitude,” said Mourinho.
“Mistakes are part of the game; footballers know they can mess up. But I don’t like unprofessional attitudes. I had 16 players on the pitch: I liked the attitude of 15. The other one, not so much.”
He declined to name names but said he had done so in the changing room, inviting the target of his ire to find a new club.
“You have never seen me be critical of Rui Patricio who made a mistake here last year or [Lorenzo] Pellegrini who missed a penalty against Juve. You have never seen me be critical of any player. I make mistakes too and as a family we need to support each other.
“But attitude is a different story. When you’re a professional in something, not only in football, you need to respect who you represent, the people who work with you, giving your all like everyone else. That’s the only reason I’m unhappy, because I feel this sensation, and because I know the process behind that attitude.”
