Jose deflects focus from United’s struggles FIFA boss Infantino proposes controversial Club World Cup
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE After losing to Juve, Red Devils boss complains about lack of quality additions MANCHESTER:
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has mastered the art of the “doubleedged compliment” and his praise for Juventus, after Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by the Italians, will have made uncomfortable listening for executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
United were outclassed by the Serie A giants and Mourinho made no effort to sugar-coat that reality, but his comments were a thinly-veiled critique of the club’s direction.
“Juventus is champions for seven years, I think seven years in a row, two Champions League finals in the last four or five years and not happy with what they have, they want more, they want more,” the former Inter Milan coach told reporters.
“They want more. They had (Gonzalo) Higuain and (Paulo) Dybala, they want more. They go for Ronaldo. They go for the best players in the world. Big club with a big past, with a big desire to have a big future,” he said.
“To go to the Juventus level? Barcelona level? Real Madrid level? How can you reach that level? Manchester City level? How can you reach this level?” he pondered.
Mourinho spent much of the pre-season criticising what he views as the club’s lack of investment in the transfer market despite spending close to 400 million pounds ($519.32 million)since he arrived at Old Trafford in 2016.
Asked if United needed investment to reach the level of those clubs Mourinho replied bluntly “Yes”.
The Portuguese’s biggest frustration was the failure to bring in a major reinforcement in the centre of defence and it was perhaps no coincidence that he highlighted Juve’s two centre-halves, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci for particular praise.
“Mr. Bonucci and Mr. Chiellini could go to Harvard University and give classes on how to be a central defender,” he said.
“We knew it would be a fight with Valencia for second position,” the Portuguese, whose side are now five points behind Juventus but two ahead of Valencia in Group H, said.
YET TO OPEN ACCOUNT
Ronaldo may have played an integral part in setting up Paulo Dybala's winning goal with a cross from the right, but Juventus’ star player could not get on the scoresheet, with David de Gea pulling off a brilliant save to deny the 33-year-old from his best attempt on the night.
After three rounds of the Champions League, Ronaldo is yet to open his account in Europe’s elite club competition. But that should not worry his fans, given the former Real Madrid man’s impressive record in the knockout stages of the competition.
JOSE ON TOP
The Portuguese forward’s inability to find the net also extends Man United manager Jose Mourinho’s (in pic) record of keeping Ronaldo at bay. Ronaldo may have played for Mourinho, under whom he scored 60 times in 55 matches during the 2011-12 campaign with Real, but he has not fared well when playing against teams managed by the Portuguese. goal Ronaldo has scored against Mourinho-coached teams in 15 matches. RESULTS & STANDINGS
GROUP E
AEK Athens 0 Ajax 1
Bayern 2 Benfica 0
Team P W D L GD Pts Ajax 3 2 1 04 7 Bayern 3 2 1 04 7 Benfica 3 1 0 2 -2 3 AEK Athens 3 0 0 3 -6 0 GROUP F Shakhtar 0 Hoffenheim 3 Man City 3 Lyon 3
Team P W D L GD Pts Man City 3 2 0 1 3 6 Lyon 3 1 2 01 5 Hoffenheim 3 0 2 1 -1 2 Shakhtar 3 0 2 1 -3 2 GROUP G Roma 3 Real 2
Team Roma Real CSKA Plzen CSKA Moscow 0 Viktoria Plzen 1
P W D L GD Pts 3 2 0 1 5 6 3 2 0 1 3 6
3 1 1 1 -2 4 3 0 1 2 -6 1
SLOW STARTERS
Man United have made it a habit to let the opposition control proceedings in the opening half. The Red Devils made a second-half comeback to beat Newcastle from 0-2 down in the Premier League earlier this month. That was followed by Anthony Martial’s second half brace against Chelsea that had kept them in the lead until the final minutes.
Against Juve too, they allowed the visitors ample space and eight chances on their goal in the first half, mustering just one attempt themselves. In the second half though, United came to life with six attempts of which Paul Pogba’s (in pic) shot from outside the box hit the post in the 75th minute.
BATTLE FOR SECOND
A second consecutive draw in the UCL puts Mourinho’s team in a tricky situation in Group H with four points. While they maintain second position thanks to Valencia’s slip up against minnows Young Boys, they have tough games coming up.
First awaits the return leg against Juventus in Turin followed by another difficult game as they visit Valencia before hosting Young Boys, whom they beat 3-0 away. Valencia on the other hand, have an easy home game against Young Boys before travelling to Juve and then hosting United.
one of the biggest candidates to win the Champions League and we did the possible to get a different result, especially because the way we played in the second half."
JOSE MOURINHO,
Manchester United manager GROUP H Young Boys Man United 1 0 Valencia 1 Juventus 1
Team P W D L GD Pts Juventus 3 3 0 06 9 Man United 3 1 1 1 2 4 Valenica 3 0 2 1 -2 2 Young Boys 3 0 1 2 -6 1
A person with knowledge of the talks tells The Associated Press, FIFA President Gianni Infantino is doubling down on his Club World Cup plans with a proposal for an annual tournament despite European soccer’s resistance to any competition that challenges the supremacy of the Champions League.
The revised proposal amends an initial plan to play a 24-team Club World Cup every four years. The new format will be discussed at the FIFA Council meeting in Rwanda on Friday, the person said. UEFA has stymied Infantino’s attempts since March to gain approval for the new FIFA competitions, which will have $25 billion of income guaranteed by an international consortium including SoftBank.
‘WORLD CUP IN QATAR TO BE BEST YET’
Gianni Infantino hailed Qatar’s progress on infrastructure ahead of its 2022 World Cup and said the tournament is poised to be the best one yet, during a visit to the next host nation.
Qatar’s size, high temperatures and lack of ready stadium infrastructure have prompted some to question FIFA’s decision to make it host, but the desert state has since launched huge construction projects including seven new stadiums by 2020.
Infantino said via a statement from Qatar’s World Cup organising committee, after he toured the Al Wakrah stadium,“The stadium is very impressive. When you enter here you immediately feel how imposing it is. The Russian World Cup has been the best ever but the World Cup in 2022 in Qatar — I am sure — will be even better.”
ZURICH: DOHA: