Mourinho Targets UCL Top Spot, Hails ‘Untouchable’ Lukaku
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Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says the aim of his team is to finish top of Group A in this season’s UEFA Champions League.
United are top of Group A on nine points after winning their first three games and are three points ahead of second-placed Basel.
The Red Devils will host Portuguese giants Benfica on Tuesday at Old Trafford and should confirm qualification into the round of 16 with a win.
“Our aim is to qualify,” Mourinho said in his pre-match press conference on Monday. “Ten points would be okay to qualify, but our main aim is to qualify first in the group. The statistics are what they are but Basel have had good results against CSKA and Benfica, a draw is not bad, but Benfica will give us a difficult match.
“They have their own ambition and pride and they will try to win, we just want to get to the last 16 by finishing first in the group.”
Mourinho described Romelu Lukaku as indispensable in the United team.
“I think Romelu is one of the players who should be untouchable in terms of respect from everyone,” he added.
“What he does for the team is fantastic and to play football for a striker is not just about scoring goals. For me, he is untouchable in my team and I think he should be untouchable in the support and the respect he deserves from the fans.”
The former Chelsea boss hinted that there is the possibility of pairing Marcus Rashford and goal hero against Tottenham Hotspur Anthony Martial together.
He said: “We played Marcus and Anthony together in Swansea, one week ago, so yes, they can play together, that’s no problem. What we cannot do is play with 12 players, and we cannot play with everybody at the same time.”
And on who is likely to feature against Benfica, he added: “I think it’s the same, we still have one more training session at 3pm today just to confirm – but in the best of the scenarios we have the same players as the last weekend.”
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