Man United brace for Europa League pitch battle despite Mourinho plea
Having described the last-16 tie as a “bad draw in every aspect”, the United manager’s feelings only worsened upon inspection of the Olimp-2 Stadium surface ahead of the first leg.
Mourinho compared the pitch to the Bird’s Nest quagmire that saw United’s money-spinning pre-season friendly against Manchester City in Beijing called off last summer.
But United will have to play on this sandy, loose surface as Uefa has confirmed the last-16 first leg will go ahead as planned.
A statement from European football’s governing body said: “A pitch inspection has been carried out by the match officials. The playing surface may not be in perfect condition, but has been deemed playable. The match will go ahead as scheduled.”
Such news is unlikely to surprise Mourinho given United have already made the trip to Russia, yet it will stick in the craw given his misgivings ahead of the tie.
“It’s still hard for me to believe that we are going to play (there),” United’s visibly-angered manager said at the pre-match press conference.
“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.
“And I don’t know what team to play, really. I don’t know if Henrikh Mkhitaryan is going to play, I don’t know.
“I have now a lot to think (about) because I was expecting something more playable.
“In a very similar pitch in the summer in China, we and Manchester City decided not to play. But it looks like we have to play.”
This is not the first time Mourinho has been irked by Uefa’s decision to deem a surface playable in United’s Europa League run.
The Portuguese was not happy with the governing body for making United play the group-stage decider at Zorya Luhansk on a frozen pitch and was unimpressed by the surface in St Etienne last month.
“I didn’t have any contact with anyone until now (about the pitch),” Mourinho said of his communication with Uefa before the press conference.
“I just had a quick contact with one gentleman from Uefa when I was looking at the pitch.
“And when I told him about my concerns, the gentleman just told me: ‘The players are insured, if something happens no problem’.”
It is a claim as extraordinary as the state of the pitch that United trained on ahead of the match.
Assistant manager Rui Faria posed for a photo with a section of the turf in disbelief, while bemused players Marcos Rojo and Ander Herrera bounced the ball on the rock-hard surface.
Rostov trained at their nearby training ground in order to avoid unnecessary damage to the Olimp-2 surface, which defender Daley Blind acknowledged was far from ideal for player safety and performance.
“I’ve just been outside on the pitch and to be honest it’s not the best,” he said. “It’s not good. Maybe the quality of the game will be a bit different.
“But it doesn’t have to be an excuse for us. The pitch is not good, maybe for safety as well. But that’s not what you have in your mind. You have to be fully concentrated and focused on the game.”
Seeing the pitch first-hand has Mourinho reconsidering his team selection, with the United boss only confirming that top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, banned for three domestic matches, will start this evening.
It is shaping up to be a difficult night against a Rostov side that have already beaten Bayern Munich and Ajax at the Olimp-2 Stadium this season. A sell-out crowd lies in wait and Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants cared little for Mourinho’s complaints about the pitch.
“There were no incidents on this pitch before because we already played against Sparta Prague and the pitch was actually worse,” he said.
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