Zimpapers Logo

Paul Pogba

Paul Pogba has an outside chance of returning to action when Manchester United face Sevilla in the last 16 of the Champions’ League at Old Trafford tonight.

Pogba missed the victory over Liverpool at the weekend after sustaining a gash to his leg in the final training session on Friday.

The Frenchman was missing during the portion of yesterday’s training session observed by the media, but Mourinho revealed that Pogba joined the workout after that and has not ruled him out of the second leg against Sevilla.

“I don’t know, he trained after you left,” said Mourinho when quizzed if Pogba will be available.

Asked if any other injured players returned to training, he replied: ‘No, just Paul.’

Anthony Martial is also fit after missing the Liverpool game, but Ander Herrera, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind remain sidelined.

Mourinho said that Jones will only be available for England duty if “Gareth (Southgate) wants to take him from the medical department”.

The United manager maintains that his team cannot think seriously about winning the Champions’ League until they have advanced to the quarter-final stage.

“When a team reaches the last eight anything is possible,” he added.

“Now I have only one name and it is Sevilla, I know it’s very difficult to go through.

“If we go through to the quarter-final draw, it doesn’t matter the opponent, it will always be one of the big names in European football, but we will try.

“I think the Europa League final was internationally our most important match in the last years because we won the competition and that victory brought us to Manchester United’s natural habitat which is the Champions’ League.

“Manchester United has to be a team in the Champions’ League, so that victory was very important for us because we finished outside the top four.

“By winning the Europa League, we won a title and go back to the Champions’ League.

“Tomorrow (today) if we manage to win the tie and go to last eight, I think it’s a good achievement. But life goes on and hypothetically we have a quarter-final to play.

“We don’t go thinking we don’t have a chance, not at all. But the biggest problem at the moment has only one name and that name is Sevilla.

“Tomorrow (today) is more important than Saturday, because that was a match for points.

“We still have 24 more points to discuss to try to finish top-four and to try to finish third or second if possible.

‘But tomorrow (today) and Saturday (against Brighton in the FA Cup quarter-finals) are the matches that you go to the next draw or not. So knockout becomes more important than championship matches.’  — DailyMail