Jose Mourinho walks out of Sky interview after Manchester United's defeat by Tottenham
Mourinho focused solely on the Europa League final before walking out of an interview with Geoff Shreeves, and admitted that the Premier League games are 'matches we don't want to play'
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho walked out of his post-match interview with Sky Sports after seeing his side lose the final match at White Hart Lane to Tottenham after insisting he wants to focus on the Europa League final.
The 2-1 defeat by Spurs means that United are out of the top four race as they trail Manchester City by seven points with just two matches remaining this season, and leaves Mourinho facing the prospect of missing out on the Champions League unless his side can beat Ajax in the Europa League final later this month.
Mourinho was in a defiant mood after the match, insisting that he has no option than to rest his best players in the Premier League because of their European commitments, and he went as far as to claim that the game against Spurs and this week’s encounter with Southampton and Crystal Palace were “matches we don't want to play”.
However, after Sky presenter Geoff Shreeves asked Mourinho three questions about the game, the ‘Special One’ decided it was time to leave because he has a Europa League final to focus on.
Shreeves attempted to ask Mourinho for one more question, asking him “Jose, before you go...”, but Mourinho had already had enough and left the interview area, muttering about preparing for the Europa League final being his only thought.
“When people say that we gambled by going for the Europa League, we didn't gamble,” Mourinho said earlier. “Nobody can play two big competitions with 15 players and this is what we have at this time.
“We didn't gamble — what we did was compulsory. So I'm happy with the situation today. They played 90 minutes, the ones that needed to play, I rested a few people, no injuries.
“And one last match to play because in this moment the Premier League, for us, is just matches we don't want to play.”
Mourinho decided to rest Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ander Herrera, Marcus Rashford and Matteo Darmian, which led to his decision to play Eric Bailly at right-back and teenager Axel Tuanzebe in midfield.
The United manager confirmed that he will also rotate his side against Saints and Palace in order to freshen up his side for the Europa League final in Stockholm on 24 May.
“Of course, I have in my mind already what I think is going to be the team but the players can influence decisions with positive or negative performances,” Mourinho said.
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