Jose rallying call as United get ready to face Ronaldo’s Italian giants in a season-defining double header as Young roars: GO FOR THE JUGULAR
JOSE MOURINHO has issued a rallying call to his Manchester United players ahead of their showdown with Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford. Mourinho faces a tough Champions League test against Juventus superstar Ronaldo tomorrow night as the ex-United forward returns to his old club. But the Reds boss made it clear to his players that they must take heart from their draw at Chelsea on Saturday despite losing out on three points in stoppage time. Mourinho told his men in the dressing room to focus on the performance rather than the result, to maintain their momentum and now only think about beating Juventus.
They face the Italian side in back-to-back Champions League games which could decide their fate in the competition and whether they can reach the knockout phase.
Mourinho said: “If they focus on the (Chelsea) performance then I think they will be really happy with themselves. If they focus on the result then I think they will be very, very disappointed.
“I think the work starts immediately when we need to train and to think about the next match, Juventus, and because Chelsea is over and we don’t play them for some months.”
Ashley Young has insisted that all-out attack is United’s best strategy for beating Juve.
The full-back believes the Reds must go for the jugular as they did to great effect in the second half at Stamford Bridge.
And he reckons that United’s players can take confidence from their performance in west London – particularly when they threw the shackles off after falling behind.
Young said: “We have to go into the Juventus game and start on the front foot.
“That is the way we have to do it. As long as we play this way, we will get the results.
“I think we have to look at the positives of the Chelsea game. We deserved to win it.
“We got on top. The way we played in the second half – we were fantastic at times. “On another day we could have got a third goal, but it was not meant to be.
“I am still baffled where the referee got an extra six minutes from, but it is one of those things. We are gutted.”
Young also paid tribute to Anthony Martial and described United’s two-goal frontman as “world class”. And he added: “Anthony is fantastic. He is a world-class player.
“To be honest, I do not know why he is not in the France squad, but that is down to the national manager. I see him day-in, day-out. He is some talent. He is unbelievable. A fantastic player.
“We got the goals and we were fantastic. But we are disappointed.”
United left-back Luke Shaw admitted they were guilty of switching off which is what cost them a precious victory. He said: “It is so disappointing. Especially as there was a minute left – or less – and we conceded a goal like that. We switched off at the end.
“The only thing that tested us was their set-pieces. We knew what was going to be expected. It feels like a loss. We should have won.
“We were not bad in the first half and we were comfortable.
“The only thing was their set-pieces so we came in at half-time and did not have to change too much.
“Martial had two good finishes, but should have won.
“I don’t feel they tested us as much as they have other teams, but we have an important game on Tuesday night that we need to win.” very we
MATCH STATS
Arrizabalaga 7, Azpilicueta 5, Rudiger 6, Luiz 5, Alonso 5, Kante 6, Jorginho 6, Kovacic 7 (Barkley 69, 7), Willian 6 (Pedro 73, 5), Hazard 7, Morata 4 (Giroud, 79, 6).
De Gea 7, Young 7, Smalling 6, Lindelof 6, Shaw 7, Matic 6, Pogba 7, Rashford 6 Sanchez 85), Mata 7 (Herrera 75, 6), Martial 8 (Perreira 84), Lukaku 5.
Mike Dean
40,721