Jose Mourinho not sitting comfortably despite Manchester United's Europa League advantage
Jose Mourinho is concerned Manchester United are still at risk of a Europa League exit despite a dominant performance in their semi-final first leg win over Celta Vigo.
Marcus Rashford’s stunning free-kick gave the Red Devils an away goal against the LaLiga outfit and puts United firmly in the driving seat heading into the return fixture next Thursday.
However, Mourinho felt the visitors should have scored a handful of goals in a dominant first-half performance in Spain and believes United could already have secured a spot in the final in Stockholm later this month.
He told BT Sport: “I’m very pleased with the performance but not with the result. The result is open but I think we played enough to make the result closed. Next week will be a big match. We missed chances but the team was strong.
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Goalscorer Rashford was forced off with an injury after netting the decisive goal that sunk Celta’s spirits – leaving Mourinho sweating on his striker’s fitness.
He added: “He’s a 19 year old kid in love with football, a kid that finishes the training session and stays half an hour more for free kicks so it’s just mentality, he works and works and works, he’s very mature, let’s forget the age.
“He started the game with a little problem and obviously with the running and continuity – Martial was fresh and we thought we could still score because of plenty of space to play so we tried until the end to win.”
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An important away goal ✅
A clean sheet ✅
A second leg to come at home ✅Tonight's work has @PaulPogba's seal of approval! #MUFC #UEL ???? pic.twitter.com/mkUA5bInuS
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 4, 2017
If the Red Devils can shut out Celta side next week at Old Trafford they will secure a spot in the final.
They are likely to meet Ajax in Sweden on May 27 after the Dutch put Lyon to the sword in the first leg of their last-four showdown with Lyon on Wednesday.
United have the small matter of a trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal on Sunday before the second leg as Mourinho struggles to keep his squad fresh.
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