Swede success would be final for Ibrahimovic
JOSE MOURINHO wants to give star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic a “beautiful” chance to win the Europa League in his homeland.
The 35-year-old is a national hero in his native Sweden and work is under way on a statue of him in Stockholm – venue for the Final on May 24.
Mourinho’s first concern is Manchester United’s bid to ensure Champions League football next season – and winning the Europa League now looks a better route than catching fourth-placed Manchester City in the Premier League.
The gaffer said: “For Zlatan it would be fantastic to play the Final in his country. It would be perfect, beautiful.
“And it would be a perfect end of season for us – a difficult season, lots of matches, fighting in every competition, trying to build a team, recovering a certain mentality.
“To play in a European final, despite it being the second competition, would be perfect for us.”
Mourinho also insisted he was “not disappointed” with Ibrahimovic despite blasting his strikers for failing to score more during the 1-1 first leg with Anderlecht in Brussels last week.
He said: “The team had the game in their hands. We could win 3-0 in Anderlecht and this would be a really nice game. We didn’t kill the game.
“I was not disappointed with Zlatan. But it was easy to kill the game.
“In this game we know if we don’t concede we go through. That is important for us. If they don’t score they are out.
“That has to affect their way of thinking. So let’s see what happens. Our record at home in Premier League is not the best but in the Europa League we have won every match at home.”