Mourinho: Risking all on Celta tie ‘no gamble’

I have no regrets resting players, says Portuguese United manager blasts ‘impossible’ schedule

Jose Mourinho says Manchester United will be given a serious reality check if they fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

United’s best hope of doing so lies with winning the Europa League, and they can reach the final by overcoming Celta Vigo at Old Trafford tonight.

Mourinho is likely to spend hugely on improving his squad this summer, with Atlético Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann leading a list of targets that also includes Paris St-germain defender Marquinhos and Real Madrid forward James Rodríguez. Qualification for the Champions League will make it easier to attract those players, yet failure is likely to make major signings more pressing.

United’s chances of making the competition via a top-four Premier League finish effectively disappeared when they lost to Arsenal last Sunday, after Mourinho made eight changes to his team to keep players fresh for their European campaign.

He said: “If we don’t qualify for the Champions League, it is because we are not good enough to play in the Champions League. I try to look at it in a pragmatic way.

“For the prestige of the club and for the finance, Champions League is Champions League. For myself and the players, Champions League is Champions League. If you are not there, it is because you are not good enough to be there.

“If we do not go to the final, if we play in the Europa League again next season, it is because we are not good enough.

“We need to take the next step. If we win, if we are strong enough to win tomorrow, and then to go to the final and win, and to qualify for the Champions League, then it is the competition we want to be in. But at this moment, we should focus on where we are. Nobody has more motivation than I have to try to win the semi-final.”

Mourinho has declared it was not a gamble to concentrate on European success at the expense of league progress, citing a heavy fixture list and a series of injuries to key players.

Should United win through this evening, then the Europa League final in Stockholm on May 24 will be their 16th match in 54 days.

Describing such a schedule as “impossible”, and referring to longterm injuries suffered by leading scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defenders Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw, Mourinho said: “It was completely impossible since the moment we lost players.

“We lost Chris Smalling and Phil Jones with the international team and Rojo and Zlatan against Anderlecht. After that we lost good alternatives, Shaw, Ashley Young, Tim Fosu-mensah. When we lost those it was an impossible job.

“It was not a gamble, it was just a consequence of our situation. We are in this situation and we have to fight for it. Let’s see if we can do it. It doesn’t matter what happens, no regrets. We are giving everything we can, the players and myself. When you give everything, no problem.”

For Celta Vigo, who narrowly avoided relegation to Spain’s third tier in 2009, tonight’s match is arguably the biggest in their history. Like Mourinho, Celta coach Eduardo Berizzo has rested players for domestic league matches recently, with his focus very much on Europe.

United’s manager, though, has rejected the idea that tonight’s visitors have greater motivation.

He said: “In terms of motivation, we are even. For Celta, in their words, it’s the most important match of their history, and my feeling is it’s also the most important match of our history.

“It doesn’t matter what happened before, what matters is the next one. I don’t believe Celta want this more than we do.”

United have no fresh injury concerns. Antonio Valencia trained yesterday, having missed Sunday’s defeat by Arsenal.