REAL MADRID 2 MAN UTD 1
Defeated Mourinho gives up on luring Bale
JOSE MOURINHO admitted defeat in Manchester United’s pursuit of Gareth Bale last night after losing the Super Cup final against Real Madrid.
Goals from Casemiro and Isco downed United in Skopje as Real became the first club in 27 years to win the title consecutively.
Mourinho had revealed he would be ready to bid for the Welshman if he wasn’t picked by Zinedine Zidane but, after the Madrid boss started him instead of Ronaldo, the Old Trafford manager said any hopes of signing him have now diminished.
‘I think clearly the club wants him, the manager wants him and he wants the club, so it’s game over even before it started,’ he said. ‘Game over because now everybody knows he’s going to stay.’
Bale suggested he hasn’t held talks with Real over his future despite suggestions in Spain that Zidane could allow him to leave.
‘I haven’t had any conversations with them about that,’ he said. ‘I’m just concentrating on my football and trying to get my fitness up as much as I can after not playing for about eight or nine months.
‘I’m not listening to anything. I don’t read anything. Obviously I get told bits and bobs but, no, I’m enjoying my football here. I’m playing as much as I can and winning trophies.’
Mourinho’s former club were deserved winners on a sweltering night. This is what he meant when he talked about the difference between the Champions League and the Europa League.
Real played like European champions here, while United look some way short of that level despite spending £136million on new signings this summer. Nemanja Matic had an impressive competitive debut but Victor Lindelof struggled again in defence and Romelu Lukaku has significant room for improvement despite scoring the goal that gave United hope of an unlikely comeback.
They were forced to defend deep after making a bright start. Bale had already stabbed the ball just wide and Casemiro had headed against the post from a corner before giving Madrid the lead in the 24th minute.
Casemiro was hovering on the shoulder of Lindelof, perhaps marginally offside, when Dani Carvajal floated a pass over the top of the United defence.
While Lindelof was appealing in vain to the referee, the Brazilian anticipated the flight of the ball and met it with a controlled, first-time finish with his left foot beyond David de Gea.
Mourinho later remarked in typically churlish fashion: ‘One of the goals was offside so, with a good VAR (video assistant referee), it would be 1-1 and extra time.’ Yet on the few occasions his side threatened in the first half, the chance was wasted through sheer carelessness. Lukaku struggled to get into the game and his tame header at Keylor Navas on the stroke of half-time was United’s first attempt on target. Mourinho sent out Marcus Rashford to warm up before replacing Lingard at half-time. But the tide continued to flow towards De Gea’s goal and he produced an excellent save to turn away Toni Kroos’ effort after he had been teed up by Bale. Bale was again the provider when Real increased their lead in the 52nd minute. Isco took a pass infield from Karim Benzema and played the ball to the former Spurs star. The return pass was weighted to perfection, with Isco taking one touch and slipping the ball past a helpless De Gea.
Lukaku was guilty of a horrible miss, blazing over from less than ten yards out after Navas could only palm Paul Pogba’s header from an Ander Herrera cross straight to him, before he fired United back into the game in the 62nd minute.
Bale had just crashed an effort against the underside of the bar from a difficult angle when Matic drilled a shot from the edge of the box. Again Navas couldn’t hold on to it, and Lukaku got free of a static Sergio Ramos to turn the loose ball home.
It raised United’s hopes of taking the game into extra time, and they almost did when Navas turned Rashford’s scuffed effort past the post after Henrikh Mkhitaryan had sent the teenager through on goal.
At the end, Mourinho took off his loser’s medal almost immediately — as did most of his players — and handed it to a fan in the crowd.
There was nothing to celebrate here. Just a reminder of how much work remains to be done.
REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Isco (Vasquez 74), Bale (Asensio 74), Benzema (Ronaldo 83). Subs not used: Casilla, Nacho, Theo Hernandez, Kovacic. Booked: Carvajal, Ramos.
MANCHESTER UNITED (3-5-1-1): De Gea; Valencia, Lindelof, Smalling; Darmian, Matic, Herrera (Fellaini 56), Pogba, Mkhitaryan; Lingard (Rashford 45); Lukaku. Subs not used: Romero, Blind, Carrick, Mata, Martial. Booked: Fellaini, Rashford. Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Ita).
Man of the match: Luka Modric.