Manchester United face Feyenoord in the Europa League today as it will be Jose Mourinho's first Europa League game in 13 years. He had previously won the UEFA Cup in 2003 during his time with FC Porto and returns to this competition after managing 125 Champions League games. Feyenoord will be a tough task as morale will be down in the United's squad after a loss in the Manchester derby.
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Jose Mourinho, in his press conference, has stated that he and his team do not belong to this competition but are going to give their best in winning this competition. He said, " It is not a competition that Man United wants. But it is a competition where we are and that is the reality. We must find the motivation I have found myself already. I have passed that to the players because I know the Europa League is not the big dream of every big player. "
This is the first time United are playing from the start in the Europa League though they previously have been dropped into this competition after failing to qualify for the knockout stages in Champions League under both Sir Alex Ferguson and Louis Van Gaal.
"But you are not in the Champions League and you have to find your motivation. We have to respect the competition. You have to make sure we are not sleeping and that we are not losing before the match starts because you don't find the right attitude," Mourinho continued.
Mourinho also referred to the humiliating defeat that United got at the hands of minnows FC Midtjylland as he told the fans and players alike to not forget that loss and use it as an inspiration.
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United manager has taken a strong squad to face the Dutch giants with Wayne Rooney receiving a rest to keep the captain fresh for the league game against Watford on Sunday. Henrikh Mkhitaryan misses out after aggravating his thigh injury while Luke Shaw is out with a hamstring injury. Phil Jones will be out for a month with a knee problem he suffered in training.
On his squad selection, Mourinho said, " My message to the players is that I bring a very good squad. To lose, we bring kids. So I bring nearly everybody to give them the right message."
Feyenoord will welcome United in the De Kuip stadium which has halved his capacity as the club wants to avoid more sanctions from UEFA regarding crowd trouble like the one Feyenoord received against AS Roma in February.
