MOURINHO TELLS HIS MEN TO FOCUS ON FOOTBALL
JOSE MOURINHO has urged his Manchester United players to put aside any security concerns in Brussels tonight and focus on their Europa League quarter-final clash with Anderlecht. The match falls less than 48 hours after the bombing of the Borussia Dortmund team bus in Germany injured defender Marc Bartra and forced the postponement of a Champions League tie with Monaco. The Belgian capital has been on high alert for more than a year since the co-ordinated attacks in the city that killed 32 people and injured hundreds. Fans have been warned that they will be arrested if they try to get near Anderlecht’s ground without a match ticket and bags will also be banned from the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. United appointed a full-time counterterrorism chief earlier this season, and Mourinho insisted that he trusts in the security operation. ‘I try not to think much about it,’ he said last night. ‘I try to focus on our job and
what we love, which is to play. This is the quarter-final. We have to be focused on it and that what we try to do. ‘Obviously (we have) solidarity with what happened yesterday, with the player that cannot play today, and the people that were scared obviously. ‘We have to trust the people that are working for our security and believe that the match tomorrow will be what people want it to be, which is a very good game.’ A statement on United’s website warned the 1,250 fans expected to attend the game that they will face stringent security measures. It read: ‘Belgian police advise that all supporters without tickets on the territories of Anderlecht will be administratively arrested, by decision of the Mayor.’ Meanwhile, the Premier League have confirmed that their stance has not changed since the terror attack on Berlin’s Christmas Market in December. A spokesman said: ‘Premier League clubs take safety and security very seriously and have a range of policies and provisions in place. They routinely work closely with the police and with their local safety advisory group.’