In his press conference today (video here) ahead of the UEFA Europa League semi-final tonight, Jose Mourinho called on the Old Trafford crowd to step up their efforts. Mourinho has previously been critical of the supporters.
“I see a difference between matches,” said Mourinho. “I don’t think it’s consistent the atmosphere, the enthusiasm.
“The match against Chelsea where they wanted to play, they played until last minute. The match against Anderlecht, the stadium was not warm enough to make us feel it was a very important match. It was because it was quarterfinal second leg.”
Mourinho hopes to have more of the fans on his side (after all tonight is the biggest match in United history, according to Mourinho), and in a more supportive capacity. His side will come into this one with a lot of advantages, most importantly, being up 1-0 on aggregate with away leg has complete.
They’ll also come in to this one much healthier than last week.
Chris Smalling, Juan Mata and Phil Jones all returned to action this past weekend and Paul Pogba is moving closer to full-fitness. Missing from this one will be: Ashley Young, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw, Tim Fosu-Mensah and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Odds via Sky Bet:
United- 6/11, Draw- 33/10, Celta Vigo 13/2
Prediction: United 2, Celta Vigo 0
With a 1-0 advantage coming home, I fully expect United to get the result that they need and move on to the Europa final on May 24th. The finale will be in Stockholm, with Ajax almost certainly the opponent.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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