Jose Mourinho makes huge Paul Pogba admission after Man Utd’s defeat to Basel
JOSE MOURINHO has conceded bringing off Paul Pogba did affect Manchester United against Basel, however he thought replacing him with Nemanja Matic would shore up his side’s midfield.
Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away to Basel in the Champions League.
A Michael Lang goal proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Basel have a tradition of claiming big scalps in Europe, having previously beaten Chelsea and Liverpool.
The result means they are currently top of Group A, however they failed to guarantee qualification for the knockout stages.
Pogba was substituted after 66 minutes, with Matic coming on his place.
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I brought to the pitch an experienced player like [Nemanja] Matic and thought it couldn't affect the game
Mourinho detected signs of tiredness in the Frenchman, and the Portuguese tactician admits it had a bigger impact than he originally imagined.
“Did Pogba coming off have an impact on the team?,” Mourinho said.
“I think it did have an impact, we were not such a good team after Paul came off but it had to be with the levels of fatigue after 65 minutes.
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“I brought to the pitch an experienced player like [Nemanja] Matic and thought it couldn't affect the game.
“I bring Marcus [Rashford] to give us more speed, more problems to them, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] to hold the ball and the approach was good.”
United, who face CSKA Moscow in their final group game on December 5, resume Premier League duties at home to Brighton on Saturday (3pm).
