Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that he is unhappy by his team’s congested fixture schedule.
The Red Devils are competing on four fronts – the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup and the Europa League.
With that comes a hectic fixture list, and after they sealed a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Wednesday, Mourinho expressed his annoyance with the scheduling.
The Red Devils are due to play the first leg of the quarter-final on Thursday March 9 and the return leg on March 16, just three days after taking on Chelsea in the FA Cup.
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Mourinho believes that it could take a toll on his players because he has no intention of playing a weakened team in his final-eight encounter against former club Chelsea.
The Portuguese coach was also frustrated by the fact that the Europa League dates have been arranged prior to discovering who their next opponents are.
He told reporters:
“I feel really surprised that the decision was made before our draw in Europe because at this moment nobody knows where we play, or where the first and second matches are.
“Imagine we play Chelsea on Monday and go to the second match in Europe in Russia, Turkey or Greece? I think once more the interests are going in front of the clubs and English football’s interests, and nobody cares about it.
“I cannot play against Chelsea with the second team, I cannot play Chelsea with the Under-21s like Manchester City did last year. I cannot do that. We are Manchester United.”
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