Mourinho banks on Ibrahimovic impact

CAPE TOWN — Jose Mourinho has revealed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the only addition to his Manchester United squad that was beaten by Chelsea in the FA Cup for today’s Europa League match against Rostov.

Ibrahimovic is serving a domestic suspension and watched from the sidelines as Mourinho’s side suffered a 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Monday, but with Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial still on the injured list, the Swede will lead the line against the Russian club.

United were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s opener was cancelled out by Aleksandr Bukharov.

“We will have the same players available as for the game against Chelsea, plus Ibrahimovic,” Mourinho said during Wednesday’s pre-match press conference.

“It is a big boost to have Ibra for this game, but we never cry about who we have and who we don’t have. He can play now and he cannot play the next game. That is not a problem.

“Martial was injured for the game against Chelsea and could not play. If you are still injured for Monday’s game, you are still injured on Tuesday morning’s training as well, so he is not an option for today.

“Rooney is still injured as well, some kick in his knee area, so he cannot even come out to the pitch. He stays inside the medical department.” — Sport24.