UNITED IN TURF WAR
Jose says Russian pitch puts Reds stars at risk
JOSE Mourinho has claimed UEFA are willing to risk the safety of his players in United’s Europa League clash with Rostov tonight. The Reds’ boss is furious over the state of the pitch at the Olimp-2 Stadium in Russia for the Europa League last-16 first leg clash. He wanted the game to be called off, but UEFA have ordered it to go ahead. “It’s still hard for me to believe that we are going to play. It’s hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field- if you can call it a field,” he said. “I told a gentleman from UEFA my concerns and he told me players are insured if something happens, no problem.”
JOSE Mourinho admits he will have to re-think his side for tonight’s Europa League clash with Rostov because of the poor condition of the pitch.
The furious Reds boss wanted the last-16 first-leg in Russia called off, fearing for the safety of his players.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will start after receiving a three-game domestic ban for his elbow on Bournemouth’s Tyrone Mings, but has now admitted the rest of his team selection is up in the air.
With such a busy schedule ahead - starting with the FA Cup quarterfinal at Chelsea on Monday – and with Henrikh Mkhitataryan just coming back from injury, Mourinho is worried about his players suffering problems because of the state of the surface.
“I don’t know which team to play,” said Mourinho.
“Really. I don’t know if Mkhitaryan is going to play. I have now a lot to think about because we expected something more playable.
“It’s similar to the pitch in the summer in China when we and Manchester City decided not to play, but it looks like we have to play.
“It’s still hard for me to believe we are going to play.
“I know we have to, but it is hard for me to believe we are going to play in that field - if you can call it a field.”
United’s assistant manager Rui Faria posed for a photo with a section of the turf in disbelief, while bemused players Marcos Rojo and Ander Herrera bounced the ball on the rock-hard surface as the Reds trained at the ground.
After a pitch inspection yesterday, European football’s governing body UEFA have insisted the game will go ahead as planned despite admitting the pitch is not ‘perfect.’ “A pitch inspection has been carried out by the match officials on Wednesday. “The playing surface may not be in perfect condition, but has been deemed playable,” they said in a statement. “The match will go ahead as scheduled.” FC Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants, whose side trained at another stadium to prevent further damage to the ground, claimed the pitch is in better condition now that it was for the last round clash against Sparta Prague. He said: “There were no incidents on this pitch before because we already played against Sparta Prague and the pitch was actually worse. “We understand that it’s not a decision of our club it’s UEFA’s decision to play match. For sure we would like to play on better pitch like Wembley.”
I know we have to, but it is hard for me to believe we are going to play in that field Jose Mourinho