Mourinho to keep Man U fresh for final
Nervy 1-1 draw against Celta Vigo sees United progress to Europa showpiece to face Ajax
>> MANCHESTER: Jose Mourinho will unapologetically seek to preserve the freshness of his Manchester United players over their final three Premier League games, he said after they reached the Europa League final.
United will play Ajax in Stockholm on May 24 after a nervy 1-1 draw at home to Celta Vigo on Thursday, in which centre-back Eric Bailly was sent off, gave them a 2-1 aggregate semi-final win.
Whereas Ajax’s season finishes tomorrow, United still have three league games to play and Mourinho said he would have no qualms about making sure his players are in top shape for the trip to Sweden.
“Obviously now Ajax think about the final,” the United manager told journalists at Old Trafford.
“Their league finishes on Sunday [tomorrow] and they will have 12 days to prepare for the final and we have three Premier League matches to play.
“Hopefully Crystal Palace [United’s final league opponents] don’t need the last game, because in the last game I’m going to make a lot of changes and nobody can blame us because we have a final two days later.”
With United struggling to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League, having fallen four points behind fourth-place Manchester City, winning the Europa League is their last hope of reaching the Champions League.
But Mourinho said it would be wrong purely to view the final as a means to an end, particularly as United have never previously won the competition.
“It means an opportunity to win a trophy, the opportunity to be back in the Champions League,” said the Portuguese, who won the Uefa Cup — the precursor to the Europa League — with Porto in 2003.
“It means an opportunity to end the season in the perfect way because the final is the last match of the season.”
Leading 1-0 from last week’s first leg in Vigo, United doubled their advantage in the 17th minute when first-leg match-winner Marcus Rashford crossed for Marouane Fellaini to head home.
But Facundo Roncaglia reduced the arrears with five minutes remaining before being sent off following a shoving match with Bailly.
Celta had United on edge throughout and had substitute Claudio Beauvue shot rather than crossed when he found himself six yards from goal in stoppage time, they might have gone through.
Mourinho said Bailly might have been “naive” during a post-match television interview, but in his subsequent press conference he said he had not seen the incident again and did not want to comment on it.
Despite the agonising nature of their elimination, Celta coach Eduardo Berizzo said his club would reflect with fondness on their Europa League exploits.
“You learn from defeats and eventually down the line you hope to turn those defeats into victories,” said the former Argentina defender.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my players. They covered every blade of grass. I’m proud of the connection they made with the fans that travelled all the way from Galicia.
“Every defeat is bitter. But when you look back on it and analyse it, I think it’ll confirm what I’ve thought about my team all season.
“We’ve had a fantastic season. I can’t blame my players in any way. We couldn’t quite turn our dream into reality, but we showed great bravery out there.”
Ajax advanced to their first European final in 21 years despite a 3-1 defeat to Lyon in France, the Dutch side progressing 5-4 on aggregate.
Ajax looked to have killed their tie against Lyon following their 4-1 win in last week’s home leg when Kasper Dolberg gave them a 27thminute lead.
But a quick-fire double right at the end of the first period from Alexandre Lacazette — the first from the penalty spot — gave the French side hope.
Substitute Rachid Ghezzal’s heavily deflected header nine minutes from time made it 3-1 on the night and Dutch international Nick Viergever’s sending-off gave Lyon extra impetus.
But they could not find an allimportant fourth to send the tie into extra-time.
Instead, Ajax will play their first final in this competition since winning the trophy in 1992 and their first European final since losing to Juventus in the Champions League in 1996.
“It was a strange evening that had started well,” said Ajax coach Peter Bosz.
“My players were downcast in the locker room.
“There was nothing going on until the last minute of the first half, when everything went wrong.
“Lyon pressed hard and got chances until the final whistle. But over the two games I think our qualification was deserved.”