JOSE MOURINHO gave an awkward interview to a BT Sport reporter minutes after Manchester United fell to defeat to Basel.
United were denied a place in the Champions League knockout phase as Michael Lang’s late strike secured Basel a memorable, and deserved, victory.
Mourinho’s men started Group A with four successive victories and could have qualified without even kicking a ball had CSKA Moscow failed to beat Benfica in the early kick-off.
It still appears a case of when rather if Manchester United reach the last-16, but Basel’s late 1-0 win means progress is not yet completely certain ahead of the Russians’ visit to Old Trafford next month.
The United boss was quizzed by Paul Dempsey after the game and he asked: “Lastly, you are going to be confident are you not that you’ll get this done against CSKA?”
Jose Mourinho
Mourinho took Dempsey by surprise by firing back a question of his own: “What do we need? I don’t know what we need.”
Dempsey stuttered and stalled before saying: “Well if you win the game, it’s completely done and dusted in your favour.”
The response was technically right but the reality is United can lose by five goals and still go through.
Mourinho wasn’t happy with the response, though, and he moved to correct Dempsey.
He said: “I don’t think we need that. Of course we’d like that but I don’t think we need to win the match. I don’t think we need to even draw.
“I think we can lose by some numbers that I don’t have with me but obviously we’ll try to win our matches.”
Mourinho’s men still boast a three-point cushion but things could have been so different had his side showed cutting edge in the first half.
Marouane Fellaini saw a header cleared off the line and Anthony Martial’s cross hit the post, with Marcos Rojo seeing an outrageous long-range effort deflected onto the bar on his return from a cruciate ligament injury after 216 days out.
The visitors dominated the opening period but tailed off markedly after the break as Basel repeated their memorable win on United’s last visit to St Jakob-Park in 2011.
Lang hit the woodwork as Sergio Romero’s goal was met by wave after wave of attacks, with United’s defence eventually buckling in the 89th minute as Raoul Petretta’s cross was turned home by Lang.
Basel celebrate
Source:www.express.co.uk