Jose Mourinho is "still number one" in the eyes of former Inter star Wesley Sneijder.
The Portuguese boss celebrates his 60th birthday on Thursday and is back in Italian football with Roma, who he led to glory in the inaugural season of the UEFA Conference League in 2021-22.
That triumph was Mourinho's fifth continental title, having won the Champions League with Porto and Inter, the UEFA Cup with Porto and the Europa League with Manchester United.
Mourinho's treble-winning season with Inter in 2009-10 is one of the highlights of his illustrious career, with Sneijder part of the team that dominated in the Nerazzurri's most famous campaign.
The Portuguese great went on to enjoy LaLiga success with Real Madrid, while leading Chelsea to the Premier League title in his second spell in charge, which preceded winning the EFL Cup and Europa League with United.
However, he was sacked by both clubs and by Tottenham prior to joining Roma, with some believing Mourinho's reputation has taken a hit.
Sneijder, however, still rates Mourinho ahead of his managerial rivals.
"I have great memories of him, especially when we won the Champions League. He was very determined and so confident we would win that match," he told Stats Perform.
"He knows exactly how to behave with his players on the pitch but especially off it. As I said before, with him there was no need for a chairman, he protected all the players.
"For me, he is still number one."
Having guided Roma to a sixth-place finish in Serie A last season, Mourinho's side are now in the midst of a fierce battle for a top-four finish and Champions League football.
Roma are fifth, level on points with Inter and Lazio ahead of them, while just three points separate second-placed Milan from sixth-placed Atalanta.
With many rival teams enduring problems this season, Sneijder feels Mourinho and Roma have a great opportunity to take advantage.
"Of course, he is doing well there. As you said, Milan, Inter and Juventus with all their problems are a bit in trouble now, so this is the right moment [for Roma]," he added.
"But there is Napoli now who are doing great in Serie A and in the Champions League. It will be hard to beat Napoli, but Roma can beat all the others."
Nuno looking beyond Man City's poor form ahead of clash with Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo insists Manchester City remain a top-quality side despite their poor run of form heading into Wednesday's Premier League contest.
City have gone seven games without a win in all competitions – the longest-such streak in Pep Guardiola's managerial career – with six of those ending in defeat.
Sunday's 2-0 loss at leaders Liverpool leaves the reigning champions fifth and now 11 points adrift of the Reds, but Nuno is looking beyond this poor run of form before facing off at the Etihad Stadium.
"It's the reality of the game – you always have ups and downs," Nuno said. "Every team has to be ready to face those moments of uncertainty when things are not going well.
"It's how long you stay there and how you bounce back from those moments; how you reorganise and improve. Their run doesn't take away the quality and the talent they have.
"Let's not forget, they're the champions and have won so much with such quality players and such a good manager. When you have such quality players and play such good football, for sure they'll turn it around."
Recharge and go again. pic.twitter.com/H5bQhrPL74
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) December 2, 2024
City are only one point and one place better off than Forest, who put back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Newcastle United behind them with a 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at the weekend.
Guardiola, who has won 18 trophies across his eight full seasons as City boss, is determined to battle on having only just signed a new two-year contract.
"I've lived better before than now," he said. "But I'm incredibly honest with myself and, when we were winning a lot, my perspective was I was fortunate to live that.
"Now I'm not depressed that everything is going bad. When I think I cannot do it we will talk with the club but I feel that I want to do it and life is not in all departments perfect."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City - Erling Haaland
Haaland has failed to score in back-to-back Premier League games for City, although he does still have 15 goals in his past 11 games at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions.
The leading Premier League top scorer this season, who has 12 goals in 13 matches overall, has also netted four times in two games on home soil against Forest.
Nottingham Forest - Chris Wood
Wood scored the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win over Ipswich via the penalty spot and also has 12 goals in his past 13 away Premier League away games for Forest.
The New Zealand international is looking to become the first Reds player to score in four successive away games in the competition, and the first in the English top flight for the club since Garry Birtles in 1983-84.
Ready for more? pic.twitter.com/zpomnE4CtA
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 2, 2024
MATCH PREDICTION: MAN CITY WIN
City have conceded three-plus goals in both of their past two home games in all competitions, which they last managed in 1963 when going on to be relegated from the top flight.
Guardiola's men may be in poor form, but they are unbeaten in their past eight league games against Forest stretching back to a 3-2 loss in the second tier in December 1997.
Forest have also lost their past four away league games against City by an aggregate scoreline of 12-0, while they are winless in their past seven top-flight visits since 1989.
The Reds have lost their past five away games against reigning top-flight champions by an aggregate scoreline of 21-2, meanwhile, since beating Manchester City 2-1 in December 1994.
If the omens were not already stacked against Forest, opponents City are unbeaten in their past 31 home Premier League games on a Wednesday, winning each of the past 20.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Manchester City win - 66.8%
Nottingham Forest win - 14.8%
Draw - 18.4%
Slot's flying Premier League start unprecedented, claims Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips has been blown away by Arne Slot's remarkable start as Liverpool head coach.
Slot took over ahead of the season following Jurgen Klopp's departure.
Having enjoyed success at Feyenoord, Slot has hit the ground running at Anfield.
He has lost just one game so far, with Liverpool leading the Premier League by nine points, while they are top of the Champions League standings with a perfect record and are into the EFL Cup quarter-finals.
Slot's Reds are averaging 2.3 goals per game, while conceding just 0.6 on average, and former England international Wright-Phillips has been hugely impressed.
"I don't think I have [seen such a strong start]. He's done tremendously well in so many phases of the game," Wright-Phillips told Stats Perform.
"If you think of Klopp's style — high-risk, high-energy football — Slot hasn't changed too much but doesn't risk the ball as much.
"They still play a similar direct style, as we saw against City. It seemed like they went direct more often than in previous games.
"He seems to have a great handle on it. It'll be interesting to see how they bounce back after the Christmas period, which will be tough with Champions League games and back-to-back Premier League fixtures.
"He may not be used to playing that regularly, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles this period."
Liverpool are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, which is their biggest lead in the competition since they won the title in the 2019-20 season.
According to the Opta supercomputer, the Reds now have an 83.7% chance of going on to win the title.
Roma 0-2 Atalanta: De Roon and Zaniolo make it eight Serie A wins in a row
Nicolo Zaniolo scored against his former side as Atalanta defeated Roma 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico on Monday to make it eight Serie A wins in a row and move within one point of leaders Napoli.
Marten de Roon opened the scoring in the 69th minute with a shot from the edge of the box that heavily deflected in off Zeki Celik, before substitute Zaniolo sealed the points in the final minute with a glancing header.
Claudio Ranieri was taking charge of Roma on home soil for the first time since returning for a third spell in charge and saw his side start brightly, with Leandro Paredes testing Marco Carnesecchi and Manu Kone firing just wide.
Atalanta had an Ademola Lookman goal ruled out for offside before half-time as they started to assert a little more authority on the game.
Artem Dovbyk was next to go close for Roma, forcing Carnesecchi into a good save, but Atalanta captain De Roon found the breakthrough at the other end when his deflected shot wrong-footed Mile Svilar.
Zaniolo then got his head to Juan Cuadrado's corner for Atalanta's second, which he did not hold back on celebrating with the travelling fans, as 15th-placed Roma were condemned to a fourth league loss in a row for the first time in 16 years.
EIGHT IN A ROW! #RomaAtalanta pic.twitter.com/8UQPlAsiXf
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 2, 2024
Data Debrief: Game goes way of the form book
This is only the second time Atalanta have ever won eight Serie A matches in a row, having previously done so between February and July 2020.
Roma's form could not be any more contrasting, as they have lost four on the spin in the league for the first time since 2008 under Luciano Spalletti.
I Giallorossi have now picked up just one point from their past four Serie A fixtures against Atalanta, losing four and drawing one of those encounters.
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