Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored against St-Étienne in the last 32 of the Europa League as Manchester United beat the French side. Photograph: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored against St-Étienne in the last 32 of the Europa League as Manchester United beat the French side. Photograph: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

Manchester United need to beat Rostov to make José Mourinho ‘smell the final’

This article is more than 7 years old
Mourinho: ‘Europa League last 16 we are far … last eight you smell the final’
Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants warns United of problem pitch in Russia

José Mourinho has stated Manchester United will focus seriously on the Europa League if they knock out Rostov and reach the quarter-finals owing to the Champions League qualification that winning the competition secures.

Mourinho takes his side to Russia for Thursday’s last-16 first leg with United also challenging for a European Cup berth via a top-four Premier League finish and still in the FA Cup.

Winning the EFL Cup means United now have one less competition to think of. If Rostov, who are seventh in the Russian Premier League having just played their first match following the winter break, can be beaten then Mourinho is intent United should win the second-tier European club tournament for the first time in their history.

“The Europa League is very difficult but it’s a target for us and if we beat Rostov and we find ourselves in the quarter-final, then we have to think really seriously about the Europa League,” Mourinho said. “The last 16 we are still far but when a team gets in the last eight you go to the quarter-final draw.

“Quarter-final, you smell the final and then in a certain period of the season I have to analyse my team, the players, the conditions of everyone and if I have to make choices, I have to make choices, but choices that I would always share with my owners [about priorities], with my board but it’s not for now.

“For now it’s just play – play against Rostov, play against Chelsea [in the FA Cup quarter-final on Monday], play against Rostov again and then let’s see how we are in all the competitions, and try to make the right decisions.”

United are sixth in the Premier League, 17 points behind Chelsea and seven behind Tottenham Hotspur in second, with a game in hand on each. “To finish second is better than to finish third, and to finish third is better than fourth and fourth is obviously better than not being in top four and not going to the Champions League,” Mourinho said. “The second position is very difficult but it’s very possible. First is impossible. Second is possible and we have to fight for it.”

With regard to juggling team selection during the congested period, Mourinho said: “I would say it is just [about] details – the player that you feel cannot play three matches in a row, you have to think which one he rests. The player that has a small injury but can play is better to play and risk, or is it better not to play and then you save him for the next two?

“This kind of situation, yes, so if you ask me do I know something about Rostov, I know a lot about Rostov, I had to do my work exactly because of this [juggling]: how do they play, how am I going to play against them, which players can be fundamental for me there? So maybe I don’t play him against Bournemouth [last Saturday] or Chelsea because I have Rostov two days after [in the return]. I have to think about different matches at the same time.”

The Rostov manger, Ivan Daniliants, has warned the pitch at the stadium will be a problem following the mid-season break. “The pitch is the same for everyone but it will still be a problem,” he said. “In the final of the League Cup [at Wembley], Manchester United played on an ideal lawn – it was like a carpet. When they arrive here, they will be surprised.”

Most viewed

Most viewed