Jose Mourinho had a message for his “lovers” after Manchester United left it late to beat Young Boys and secure a spot in the Champions League knockout stages. Marouane Fellaini was again the saviour for United, turning inside the area to find the bottom corner in the 90th minute for a 1-0 win. Mourinho’s reaction to the goal was telling as he picked up and threw a case of water bottles to the ground and after the game he spoke to his record in the competition.
“First of all, let me send a message to my lovers and say I play Champions League 14 years and qualify 14 times. And the year where I didn’t play Champions League, I won the Europa League twice. “So in 16 years, 14 times I qualify. Just a little curiosity for my ‘lovers’ and lovers of the stats. Realistically, to be in the last 16 in this group is an achievement, not a big one, not a fantastic one, but is an achievement.
United laboured against Young Boys but Marouane Fellaini’s stoppage-time strike, combined with Valencia’s defeat at Juventus, ultimately sent them through to the latter rounds of the competition. Mourinho has never suffered group stage elimination from the competition, qualifying for the knock-out stages in each of his 14 Champions League campaigns, and the United manager was keen to remind his critics of this record in his post-match press conference.
He told reporters: “For some of my lovers, I just want to say: for the ones that like stats, 14 times in the Champions League, 14 times qualified through the group phases. “Never one of my teams stayed in the group phase. The seasons I didn’t play in the Champions League, I won the Europa League.” United can still top Group H, but must beat Valencia and hope Young Boys stop Juventus from winning in the final round of group games. “There are better teams than us, teams with more quality, with more realistic ambitions, but I always say when the team arrives in the Champions League quarter-final, not the last 16, and goes over one knock-out phase and arrives in quarter-final, anything can happen. “In this moment, we are going to finish second and get a team that won the group so we can have Barcelona, Real Madrid, I don’t know who else but for sure we can have Bayern Munich, the best teams in the world.”
