Mourinho puts finger on Man Utd defeat; pinpoints Pogba moment

Jose Mourinho was in no mood to blame his players, but did feel the substitution of Paul Pogba was key, as Manchester United slipped to a 1-0 defeat in Basel.

The defeat to the Swiss side meant United slipped to a first Champions League defeat of the season and meant Mourinho’s side had to wait until matchday 6 to secure their place in the knockout stages.

Trying to explain the defeat, the United boss said: “We played against a team that played with five defenders.

“We tried to play with three attacking players and that worked in the first half because they couldn’t handle us.

“We didn’t score in the second half probably (because of) the fact that we know one point is enough.

“So it’s hard for me to be upset with the players. The first half the attitude was good, the football was good.

“It is really difficult to blame. It’s just football.”

Mourinho said it “should have been 5-0” in the first half.

Despite making seven changes, United dominated in the opening period on the relaid St Jakob-Park turf as Pogba, captaining the side for the second time, pulled the strings.

It was just his second appearance since he sustained a hamstring injury when the sides met on matchday one at Old Trafford, and his second-half substitution in Switzerland made a telling impact.

“The first half was a perfect half – without the goals,” Mourinho said. “It was difficult to repeat in the second half. We knew that the opponent would try a different reaction.

“Did Paul Pogba coming out have an impact on the team? I think it had an impact.

“We were not such a good team after Paul came out, but he had to be (substituted). He cannot go to levels of fatigue after 65 minutes.

“But I brought to the pitch an experienced player like (Nemanja) Matic and I thought he could affect the game.

“I bring Marcus (Rashford) to give us more depth, more speed, more problems to them, Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) to hold the ball, drop and have it.

“The approach was good, I cannot blame the players.

“I think we play a match like this 10 times and nine we win comfortably.One we lose and the one was now.”

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