Strike duo Adriano and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in either half to send Mourinho's side into the semi-finals, the latter scoring the winner just one minute after Rodrigo Taddei had levelled the score for Roma.

After a 3-1 defeat to Atalanta in the league at the weekend - only the Nerazzurri's second Serie A reverse of the season - Mourinho praised his squad for bouncing back well against a strong rival.

"The team was a team and the players have responded well to the negative performance on Sunday," he told Italian television station RAI.

"It's very important that they talk to each other on the pitch and that's what they've done. We could have lost it, because that can happen, but with this attitude I'm very impressed with my players.

"We played with the right attitude, a positive attitude. We were unified in a difficult moment and even if we had lost I would have been satisfied because the real Inter has returned."

The Portuguese boss also had words of praise for Adriano, who has been linked with a January move away from the San Siro.

"Adriano has done a very important job for us. He seems to be a lot better, even if he still has a long way to go," he said.

Roma boss Luciano Spalletti was also happy with his players, but was not so content with the performance of the referee.

"The obvious refereeing errors are regrettable. Winning like that is no use to the Nerazzurri," he said. "We played a good game, and when you play like that you go home happy."

A plus for Roma, however, was the news that captain Francesco Totti's return to fitness is progressing well, meaning he could feature for the Giallorossi this weekend.

"We're evaluating his (Totti) situation all the time, but he could be available to play Napoli on Sunday," Spalletti revealed.