Jose Mourinho was relieved to get out of Russia without any injuries on Thursday night after Manchester United battled to a 1-1 Europa League draw with FC Rostov.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was on target for a result that makes United favourites to reach the quarter-finals in the second leg at Old Trafford next week.
But Mourinho was just happy to fly home with all his players fit and healthy.
The United manager had been fiercely critical of the pitch at Rostov’s Olimp-2 Stadium on the eve of this match and his fears were well founded as the players struggled to keep their feet on the hard, uneven surface.
‘It was a very good performance in relation to the conditions,’ Mourinho said. ‘It was impossible to play better, impossible to play a passing game.
‘We played what the game demanded and we played well. l remember as a kid some matches like this in Portugal on these type of pitches.Â
'To see my players coping with it and the humility to fight for every ball is a good feeling for me.
‘I said before the game that I didn’t want to go more and more into this. It is done. There are no injuries.
‘The result is open to the second leg and one more experience for every one of us because our football life is full of experience and this is a new one for us.’
Mourinho was particularly concerned about picking up injuries with United due to play his old club Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
United had one scare when star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic fell heavily to the ground but he was able to continue.
Mourinho will make changes for the Chelsea game but vowed not to go back to Stamford Bridge with a weakened team including youngsters from Nicky Butt’s academy at United.
‘Monday we don’t go with Nicky Butt’s team,’ he said. ‘Manchester United is too big, it is the winner of the competition.
‘It is not Chelsea’s fault that we were given this Monday match so after this we have to make changes for sure but we can’t go there with a Nicky Butt team.’ Credit: Daily Mail