Show you’re more than Pog standard
JOSE MOURINHO is set to welcome Paul Pogba back for tonight’s Champions League tie – but warns the Frenchman his £90million price tag does not guarantee him a regular starting place.
Manchester United’s midfielder has endured a miserable few weeks after being axed, recalled and then substituted before missing last Saturday’s FA Cup win at Huddersfield through illness.
He will return to Mourinho’s starting line-up for the last-16 first-leg showdown in Spain after proving his fitness.
But United manager Mourinho makes it clear that there will be no special treatment for the 24-year-old. He said: “I don’t think it’s fair to speak about the responsibilities of a player.
“I don’t even like the fact the player that cost X millions doesn’t have the same responsibility as the player that cost three times X. The responsibility is for everyone, so I don’t like that approach. I understand why you ask about him but it’s not for me.
“When I pick the team, I don’t look to the age, salary or transfer fee. I don’t think that is fair.”
But tonight at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium there will be nowhere for Pogba to hide. These are the stages on which he is expected to shine, to dominate the game and inspire those around him.
The knockout rounds of the biggest club competition in the world sort the men from the boys and the time has come for Pogba to stand up and be counted.
He has proved himself at this level with Juventus but has still to find his best form with United and the pressure is mounting.
Mourinho allowed the media to watch Pogba and his team-mates train ahead of them leaving for Spain. “I opened the training session and I opened it in a period where normally we don’t. We normally do it in the warm-up and in the first simple drills of the training session,” said Mourinho.
“This time we did it for quite a long time and the last period so you could see the players in a competitive situation. When a player is in that situation it is because the players are normally ready and without problems.
“So you could see in training some that didn’t play against Huddersfield, with problems, like Pogba. I think in an objective way you could look at it.”
Mourinho claims United are not one of the favourites to win this trophy but admits his side could be dark horses if they beat Sevilla to reach the quarter-finals.
Mourinho, who will be without Phil Jones, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind, said: “I think that in this game and the one in a few weeks at Old Trafford, the two teams are very balanced.
“I’d say it’s the same chances for both but we are confident over two legs we can do it. Any team that reaches the quarter-finals has a chance. I never thought I was going to win it with Inter Milan or Porto, it’s when you reach the quarter-finals that you think something can happen.
“The dynamic can change, the normal tendencies of some clubs are more ready to win it but when you reach the quarter-finals it is when any team can feel anything can happen. This step of going from 16 to eight teams is a very important step.”
Someone else out to impress will be Alexis Sanchez, who is poised to make his Champions League debut for United. Mourinho says taking a seat at the top table of European football is one of the main reasons he left Arsenal.
“Manchester United in the Champions League is quite a big thing,” said Mourinho. “Alexis will put all his efforts into this stage.
“The motivation is always there and we always want to play against the best teams, and we like the Champions League the best – and Alexis wanted to come to the team.”