Jose Mourinho said that Manchester United's trip to Juventus "is not a crucial match", as it will be the follow-up matches against Young Boys and Valencia that will ultimately decide whether they qualify as their group of the Champions League.
The Portuguese team lost the match 1-0 to Old Trafford two weeks ago, but the importance of this was reduced by the fall of Valencia against the Swiss. This means that a defeat is not as important, as Mourinho also confirmed that Romelu Lukaku was injured during the trip to Turin.
"No, not at all," said Mourinho, when asked if it was a decisive week. "Tomorrow is a big game and he's big enough not to think about what's next. It's big enough to think only of the game. Juventus is not a crucial match for us.
"I think that regardless of the result, our next games against Young Boys and Valencia will be the matches that will define the qualification in second place or go to the Europa League, so tomorrow we want to win. We want to be competitive.
"I think the best experiences for teams are against teams that are really the best and we have this opportunity tomorrow. No matter what happens here or in Valencia [between the Spanish side and Young Boys]There are two games remaining and we can still qualify. So I think we will fight for the qualification until the last game. It's such a big match that I do not want to think about it. Manchester City, Crystal Palace, whatever, we just want to focus on tomorrow. "
Mourinho meanwhile said that they were working to try to solve the problem of bad starts in the match, but that he was encouraged by the reaction of his team. United has been down for four of its last five games.
"We work every day to try, but the reality is that normally we do not start the matches well, but if we do not start well and finish well, that's fine. It's very fun for the fans, but football lasts 90 minutes and, especially when your opposition is strong, if you give 45 minutes in advance, even 20 or even 10, you have a mountain to climb.
"The good thing is that recently, apart from the game against Juventus, we were strong enough to climb the mountain and change the results in the second half and last minutes. But because we're talking about tomorrow's game when you play against a great team, if you give an advantage, it's very difficult to climb the mountain then. "
Regarding Lukaku, Mourinho said he was injured in the match against Juventus and "does not know" when he will be ready for the derby against City on Sunday.
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