United’s Jose slams Rostov pitch for Europa match
Print Edition
MANAGER Jose Mourinho slammed the state of the Rostov pitch yesterday ahead of Manchester United’s Europa League tie, questioning whether the game should go ahead.
“It’s still hard for me to believe that we are going to play,” Mourinho said at a press conference in Rostov ahead of today’s last-16 tie.
“I know that we have to, but it is hard for me to believe we are going to play on that field — if you can call it a field.”
Mourinho compared the pitted and damaged Olimp-2 stadium pitch in Rostov, Russia, to the surface at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium where Manchester United and City refused to play a preseason friendly last year.
“I have now a lot to think (about) because I was expecting something more playable.
“On a very similar pitch in the summer in China, me and Manchester City decided not to play, but it looks like we have to play.”
He said he spoke of the risks of playing on the surface to a UEFA official and was rebuffed.
“I didn’t have any contact with anyone until now. I just had a quick contact with gentleman from UEFA when I was looking at the pitch,” he said.
“When I told him about my concerns the gentlemen just told me the players are insured — if something happens no problem.”
Concern about the uneven pitch and his players’ safety posed a team selection headache for the Portuguese coach.
“I don’t know which team to play, really,” he said, against a side he described as ‘dangerous’, and who he knows beat both Ajax and Bayern Munich this season.
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