Mourinho: Champions League failure 'nothing new' for Manchester United

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho responded to his team’s round of 16 failure against Sevilla by pointing out that he’s personally defeated United on two separate occasions in the competition.

“I’ve sat in this chair twice before. With Porto – Manchester United out. With Real Madrid – Manchester United out,” Mourinho told reporters after the match, as quoted by Oliver Kay of the Times. “So this is nothing new for this football club.”

The Red Devils were dumped out of the competition Tuesday after conceding two away goals to Wissam Ben Yedder in quick succession, which Romelu Lukaku could not overturn despite his efforts in an eventual 2-1 defeat.

And indeed, Mourinho has twice orchestrated United’s elimination from Europe’s premier competition, having defeated the Red Devils in his inspired 2003-04 campaign with FC Porto, and with Real Madrid in the 2012-13 season.

The manager was otherwise unusually calm after the match, offering “tomorrow is another day.” With the iconic English outfit sitting 16 points behind Manchester City in the Premier League standings, he also pointed to Saturday’s tilt with Brighton as the new focus and defended his players’ performances.

“I think the first goal was always going to be important, not just because of the first leg result but also the profile of the match,” Mourinho told BT Sport after the match, as quoted by BBC Sport.

“We tried to be aggressive and intense from the first minute. We didn’t score and Sevilla progressively kept the ball, and they controlled the game well.

“We had good chances to score, but they scored one goal and from that moment everything became much more emotional. The second goal made it impossible.

“We had good periods, we didn’t have great control over the game, but I can’t say there was anything wrong with my players and their intention to play.

“That’s football, we lost, but tomorrow is another day and Saturday is another match.”