Jose Mourinho has praised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for leading Manchester United to a wonderful win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, adding that the Old Trafford side defeated the French club because they took their chances. The Norwegian has only lost one of his 17 games in charge since replacing Mourinho in December, becoming the first coach to overturn a 2-0 first-leg home defeat in European Cup history, and now looks certain to land the job permanently. Far from being bitter, Mourinho was quick to credit his successor for his role in United’s victory and named both Solskjaer and Ajax boss Erik ten Hag as his ‘special ones’ of the week.
On United’s performance and gameplan at the Parc des Princes, he added: ‘You can go in the pragmatic way and say football is not about ‘ifs’, it’s about results. Manchester United had four shots during 95 minutes, and in four shots scored three goals, and PSG had almost 70 percent of ball possession, had more than 10 shots, and they scored only one. That’s the pragmatic way of looking at football, Manchester United scores three, and they deserve to go through.’
Asked to name the stand-out performer of the week’s Champions League action on RT, Mourinho explained: ‘In terms of players I was immediately thinking about [Dusan] Tadic because I think he was a key player in that amazing match. But then after United’s victory, and putting together the two matchdays, Tuesday, Wednesday, and also because normally when things go wrong, everybody goes in the direction of the guilty manager, let’s say that.
‘I think independent of the performances, Ajax and Manchester United results are phenomenal results, and if the responsibility in the bad days is for the managers, the responsibility of the good days is then also for the managers. So for me, Ten Hag from Ajax and Solskjaer from Manchester United. Incredible results, so credit to them.
‘I would say in relation to Ajax by the tactical perspective and also by the mental aspect of their game. For Manchester United I would say the mental side of it, the self-belief, so for me very special days for these two men.’