Jose's Verdict As Reds Progresses

Jose Mourinho praised his Manchester United players for handling the fatigue of a busy period when securing progress to the Europa League quarter-finals with a 1-0 win over FC Rostov.

The Reds drew 1-1 out in Russia last week and followed that up with a slender but thoroughly-deserved victory at Old Trafford thanks to Juan Mata’s second-half goal.

Here are the main points from the manager’s post-match interviews with MUTV and BT Sport…

ANALYSIS OF THE MATCH
“In the first half we were fresh, we were not dead, and we were really dominant, and we created chances, and they did not cross the midfield line, and everything looked like we were going to score a couple of goals to kill it. But they played clearly to let the game go until the period where we would be logically in some trouble from a physical point of view. We left the game open, they left the game open too, and in the last part we had problems, we had injuries, we had to make changes.”

FATIGUE PLAYED A PART
“I was afraid of extra time and some players were in trouble. I know that I can bring Rashford to the game, but at the same time I am afraid because I have at least Marcos Rojo in big trouble. It was a difficult game. We have lots of enemies. Normally the enemy should be Rostov but we have lots of enemies. It is difficult to play on Monday night with 10 men, it is difficult to play now, it is difficult to play on Sunday at 12 o’clock, so we have lots of enemies. The boys were fantastic. I can imagine some people will say we should play better, we could play better, we should score more goals, we should not have so many difficulties to beat this opponent, but the reality is we have lots of things going against us and we have to fight. The boys are amazing and we will probably lose the game on Sunday but we will try our best.”

REACTION TO POGBA AND BLIND INJURIES
“Paul has an issue, Daley I do not know, I have to see what happened. Fatigue has a price but I will remember forever, when I spoke with the UEFA delegate in Rostov, he told me that if any of our players gets an injury then the insurance pays so the pitch is not a problem. Probably the people that decide the match is for us on the Monday, and then the Sunday at 12 o’clock, they are probably people who think the same: if they are injured, they are insured and it is no problem.”

WHY JOSE PASSED ROJO A BANANA
“I don’t know if you have been tired at any time in your life. I was tired many times and I know what are the limits of the body and when the body needs anything… anything! The player asked for a banana and it is not to laugh at all, it is to respect the players and their limits. They gave absolutely everything."

UNITED ARE THE LAST TOP-SIX CLUB IN EUROPE
“I am very disappointed. I am not making fun of it, I am speaking really and feeling it. It is bad for us for many reasons. It is bad for us because the five teams that are in front of us in the Premier League, none of them have international football. They will be playing one match per week, like some of them have been doing since the beginning of the season. They don’t know what fatigue is, they don’t know what accumulation is, they don’t know what it is to go home tonight and don’t speak because of fatigue. Tomorrow is another day for us and we will fight until the limit. That is what we have to do.”