Mourinho believes that Chelsea still pose threat to Red Devils’ hopes
MANAGER Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United still face a fight to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League, never mind sealing second spot.
The inevitable became official on Sunday as Manchester City wrapped up the Premier League title without kicking a ball, thanks to rock-bottom West Brom’s shock 1-0 win at Old Trafford.
United were a shadow of the side that stormed back to win the Manchester derby the previous weekend, leading Mourinho to say he would drop floundering stars for Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham.
Before that trip to Wembley comes a league match at Bournemouth tonight, which takes on more significance in the wake of the loss to the beleaguered Baggies. United can use their game in hand to stretch their lead over third-place Liverpool to four points and all but seal Champions League qualification, which Mourinho believes is up in the air as fifthplaced Chelsea look to kick on.
Mourinho said of the defeat to West Brom: “We lost three points that could give us great stability for the second position.
“Now we still have the fourth position to fight for because Chelsea won (at Southampton on Saturday) and we lost, so we still have to fight for top four.”
Mourinho’s former club are 11 points behind United with five matches to play – the same number as United have heading to Bournemouth.
City have been cleared of wrongdoing over the controversial signing of teenager Benjamin Garre from Argentinian club Velez Sarsfield.
They could have faced a transfer ban had a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport gone against them.
Velez claimed City broke world governing body FIFA’s regulations on international transfers when they signed Garre, then 16, in July, 2016. Velez argued FIFA rules only allow players under the age of 18 to move between clubs in European Union countries.
City countered that Garre held an Italian passport and was, therefore, entitled to move after his 16th birthday.
FIFA ruled in City’s favour over the matter, but Velez took their complaint to Lausanne-based CAS, where the case was heard last summer. Now, following a lengthy delay, the verdict has been delivered.
City could have been banned from signing players for up to two transfer windows had the ruling not gone in their favour.
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been subjected to bans for breaching rules around the signing of international players under the age of 18 in recent years.