Mourinho compares United to Porto & Inter CL winning teams

Joe Williams

Jose Mourinho is refusing to consider Champions League glory after comparing how his Manchester United side rank alongside the teams he has enjoyed success in the competition with.

United face Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, hoping to take one step towards a quarter-final place in a competition Mourinho was won twice before, at Porto and Inter Milan.

Returning outfield quartet Paul Pogba, Antonio Valencia, Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera travelled with the squad to Andalusia, as did goalkeeper David De Gea after being rested at Huddersfield.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Marouane Fellaini and Phil Jones remain absent for the last-16 encounter – the final hurdle before Mourinho starts dreaming of Champions League glory.

“I won with Porto when Porto was a very young team, a very inexperienced team at this level, with so many players playing Champions League for the first time in their careers,” he said.

“And then I won with Inter, which was exactly the opposite. It was a team with lots of players over 30, with great experience in high-level football but not successful until then.

“I think this squad is more in the middle of it. We have some players with previous experiences, we have some others without experience.

“But I think in the end, I normally say that Champions League dreams start around the quarter-finals and not yet.

“In the last 16, it still looks a long way to go.”