Saints not Chelsea on Mourinho’s mind

AFP - Jose Mourinho refused to dwell on the prospect of facing his former club Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals after Manchester United negotiated a difficult fifth-round visit to Blackburn Rovers in a 2-1 victory.

It took the substitute pairing of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to combine for the latter to score the winning goal in the second half, maintaining United’s interest in all four competitions.

Now United must visit Stamford Bridge, where they have not won since 2012, although Mourinho did appear to be employing his favoured tactic of playing mind games when he discussed the draw and appeared to hand the league title to Chelsea. “I have no reaction,” said Mourinho of the draw. “I have to play Saint-etienne, I have to play the final, I have to play, hopefully, another game in the Europa League, I have to fight for a top-four position in the Premier League. “So I have so many things to think about. Probably Chelsea can only think about that because they are champions. They have nothing else to play for. The FA Cup is something I believe is important for them.” In October, United lost their only league meeting with Chelsea so far this season 4-0, Mourinho’s worst result as a Premier League manager although his team has improved immeasurably in the intervening months. This week alone, United are involved in two more cup competitions -- they must travel to France for the second leg of their Europa League last 32 tie against Saint-etienne (after winning the first leg 3-0) and then play Southampton in the League Cup final on Sunday.