'I don't want to take that syrup!' - Papu Gomez brutally mocked by Jose Mourinho after two-year ban for doping as Roma boss responds to Europa League jibe from Lionel Messi's World Cup-winning team-mate
The Roma manager's comments arrived after Gomez, who lifted the World Cup alongside Messi after Argentina's run to glory at Qatar 2022, taunted Mourinho openly in the media last week. The Monza player was part of the Sevilla squad that beat Roma in the Europa League final last season. Gomez said: “Mourinho? I only have one memory of him and that is winning the Europa League with Sevilla against him a few months ago.”
Gomez has since been hit with a two-year-ban from football for breaching doping regulations, and Mourinho couldn't resist taking a swipe at the Argentina international in the aftermath of Roma's 1-0 win against Monza in Serie A on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking fresh after a 1-0 Serie A win over Roma, Mourinho told the press: “He didn't play the final against us, but the semi-final against Juventus and he already knew about the positive test.
"I have a cough, but I won't take that syrup. Then maybe they'll find me positive…”
The 2022 World Cup winner with Argentina allegedly tested positive for Terbutaline in October 2022, a drug taken to calm bronchospasms.
His club Monza released a statement confirming the sentence from the Spanish Anti-Doping Commission, as the offence occurred while he was at Sevilla.