In direct defiance of former Manchester United hard man Roy Keane, Paul and Florentin Pogba again displayed feelings of brotherly love on the soccer pitch Wednesday: giving dap, exchanging jerseys, strolling around the pitch postgame, applauding everyone and refraining from threatening to murder each other and calling each other f***ing w***ers.
The Stade Geoffroy-Guichard stadium was packed and in full voice despite being down 3-0, and a deft touch from Henrikh Mkhitaryan on a Juan Mata cross effectively ended the tie in the 16th minute.
Eric Bailly received two yellow cards in a three-minute span to earn his marching orders, ruling him out of United’s round of 16 first leg match. Other than that, Bastian Schweinsteiger appearing as a substitute for Michael Carrick was the only other highlight.
Mourinho did name a strong lineup despite the fact that United will contest the EFL Cup final against Southampton on Sunday. For Mourinho, it might’ve just been about keeping a fantastic run of form in rhythm.
After the match, Mourinho was asked by a reporter to clarify the rumors of Wayne Rooney’s possible transfer to China:
“The only rumor I know is that we have a plane to catch in two hours on a direct flight to Manchester," Mourinho said.