Mourinho on no substitution: The Manchester United manager provides reason for the lack of substitutions against Juventus.
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Manchester United suffered a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford to Juventus in the Champions League. Jose Mourinho’s side is now five points behind the Italian champions in their group stage, with four points from three games.
Paolo Dybala scored the only goal of the match early in the first half, after United’s defenders failed to pick his run through the middle of the defence.
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The match also saw the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford. However, the former Manchester United footballer had a quiet evening as Juventus secured three points.
Manchester United will now travel to Turin for the return leg against Juventus. The side is two points ahead of Valencia as the Spanish team was held to a draw by Young Boys.
Jose Mourinho interacted with media after the game, and threw light on the reason he made no substitution throughout the game.
Mourinho on no substitution:
The Manchester United manager stated that the lack of attacking options was the major reason behind his decision to not introduce any substitution during the match.
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Bear in mind Sanchez was in the stand,
said the manager. Lingard was in the stand. Fellaini may have been in the stand or at home as I didn’t see him.
The Portuguese manager insisted that the only attacking option was Tahith Chong, the U-23 player who is yet to make his senior debut with the club.
“The only real attacking option was a young 18-year-old lad who has never played in the first team before. Given the dynamic of the game, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to bring him on.
“You can’t expect a kid making his debut in a game like this to give you something like scoring a goal. So that’s why I didn’t make any changes on the pitch.”
Jose Mourinho also said that he missed Fellaini in the game.
“I really missed Fellaini because when we are dominant, we are playing in the opponents’ half and the opponent closes the way they did, and they brought [Andrea] Barzagli as a third centre-back.
“Fellaini is a player that gives us different things. We missed him, but the boys gave everything and when the boys give everything and go until the last second I am always happy with them.”
What next?
Manchester United will return to Premier League with the game against Everton at Old Trafford. Mourinho’s men will aim to come back to winning ways, as the side has only registered one win in their last 7 games across all competitions.
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