Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says that on another day, perhaps with VAR, his side wins the UEFA Super Cup over Real Madrid.
Mourinho presided over United’s 2-1 loss in Macedonia on Tuesday, watching his side get worked for most of the first half and part of the second. The Red Devils then turned on the juice late and nearly found an equalizer against Europe’s top team.
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Though he didn’t hang onto his runners-up medal (see below), Mourinho felt pretty good about the outing.
Considering that Casemiro was a shade offside for the first goal, Mourinho has a case to be made regarding VAR. But Real also hit the woodwork on multiple occasions and played most of the match without one of the best players of all-time.
As for Cristiano Ronaldo, Mourinho wasn’t too impressive with his cameo. From the BBC:
“I think we did well, I think we lost to one goal which shows the result was really short and one of their goals was an offside. With a good VAR system it would be 1-1 and extra-time.
…
“We were playing a team full of fantastic players, we discussed the result until almost the end. I say almost the end because with Cristiano Ronaldo coming on, because every time Ronaldo wanted a free-kick the game was stopped. We gave them a fight but have reasons to leave optimistic and proud. Let’s go for Sunday.”
Mourinho claimed his side is better than the team that beat Ajax in the UEFA Europa League Final.
He also said his club is looking forward to a few days rest before Sunday’s Premier League opener at West Ham United, and also made it clear that Gareth Bale‘s participation means the Welsh star won’t be available through the transfer market.
Ronaldo certainly did his best to milk a late free kick, gesticulating wildly in a delayed fall after contact from Antonio Valencia, but the Mourinho criticism is more misdirection than anything to blame in a match which saw seven minutes of stoppage time thanks to a late facial injury to Marouane Fellaini.
