Mourinho dismisses gap in Man United’s midfield
The absence of key midfielders due to injury will have no effect on Manchester United’s quality in their Champions League match against CSKA Moscow, manager Jose Mourinho said.
United will be without Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick, leaving Mourinho with Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera as the only experienced central midfielders for the game on Wednesday.
“We don’t have Fellaini, we don’t have Pogba, we don’t have Carrick. So, all three midfield players, we lose for this match. The solutions are not many,” Mourinho said on Tuesday.
“We try not to focus on individual battles or specific areas on the pitch. We try to focus on the bigger picture. And we are going to have a team with quality, with balance.”
Mourinho expects Fellaini to be back soon after sustaining an ankle injury in the 1-0 win at Southampton on Saturday.
“It was only when I saw it on TV that I realised that Fellaini was very lucky,” Mourinho added. “I do not expect him to be out for long.”
CSKA Moscow lie fourth in the Russian Premier League, with six wins from 11 games, but Mourinho believes they are “the best CSKA I am going to play against”. He said: “I don’t like to speak about opponents. If I speak good, I motivate them. If I speak bad, I motivate them.”
United, unbeaten this season and level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, started their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win over Basel.
CSKA beat Benfica 2-1 in Lisbon in their opening match.
Neymar has been included in Paris St Germain’s squad for Wednesday’s Champions League game against Bayern
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Munich after recovering from a foot injury, coach Unai Emery said on Tuesday. His return fuelled speculation whether the Brazilian forward or Edinson Cavani would take a penalty if the French club are awarded one during the Group B game at the Parc des Princes.
The two players argued in the 2-0 win over Olympique Lyonnais nine days ago, when Neymar tried to take a penalty instead of Uruguayan Cavani, who eventually had his spotkick parried by the keeper.
“Neymar is in the squad to play the game tomorrow,” Emery said.
Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer, missed PSG’s 0-0 draw at Montpellier on Saturday, as the team dropped their first points of the season in Ligue 1.
Argentinian winger Angel Di Maria also returns to the PSG squad after nearly three weeks out injured.
Neymar and Cavani are likely to start alongside Kylian Mbappe in a 4-3-3 formation and Emery said he had discussed the penalty situation with the players.
“I spoke with each of them and they know how things will happen,” he said.