Mourinho’s excuses for UCL ouster not tenable

The Manchester United squad is worth about $920 million while that of Sevilla comes in at about $340 million; but the performance of the teams on Tuesday negated these amounts. At home, Old Trafford, United were near toothless and lethargic.

David de Gea had been United’s saviour in the first leg but though he could be blamed a bit for the second goal, the whole United team was a complete shadow of the United teams seen in the past.

That Mourinho could say United getting knocked out in the round of 16 was nothing new says a lot about the Portuguese. What he failed to mention was a Sevilla team that was beaten 2-0 at home by Valencia before their trip to Manchester easily beat his team of superstars. The less said about the introduction of Paul Pogba the better.

“I said yesterday we could lose the match,” Mourinho started at his post-match press conference.

“I am not going to make a drama of it – we have a match on Saturday. We have no time to be sad for more than 24 hours.

“And that is football that is not the end of the world. I sit in this chair, twice in the Champions League and I knock Manchester United out at Old Trafford. So I don’t think it is something new for the club.”

Wow, the effrontery of Mourinho as he dragged United on the floor.

Mourinho was lauded for his tactical Masterclass against Chelsea and then against Liverpool but he fell far short on Tuesday as his tactics absolutely backfired.

What was the reason for starting Marouane Fellaini? Why was Pogba off the bench first? So many questions that United fans would be mulling over throughout the night as a surety victory turned into an embarrassing defeat.

The United board would have listened attentively to Mourinho, who said without saying it that United are no longer amongst the best in Europe. Opta Stats confirm that over the two legs against Sevilla, Mourinho’s team registered just four shots on target and scored once.

And after progressing from the last 16 in five successive seasons – United have now been eliminated at the round of 16 in two of their last three Champions League campaigns – the 2012/13 and 2017/18 seasons. With a new contract, he holds the aces but his words will not have gone down well with true Mancunians!