Pogba
left United back in 2012 to sign for Juve, before making a shock return to
Old Trafford in what was a then-world record £89 million fee in 2016.
And
as the France World Cup winner prepares to return to Turin for the first time
in Wednesday's Champions League clash, Mourinho has urged him to focus on his
United duties, while accepting that, like Cristiano Ronaldo's Old Trafford
return, it will be an emotional moment for him.
Maurinho
went on to say: "I imagine yes [it will be a big deal for Pogba], in the
same way Cristiano was professional - he did his job, fought for his team
and gave everything he had to give.
"I
can imagine with Paul it’s going to be the same – a little bit of emotion now,
I think even at the beginning of the match, yes for sure.
"But
then, it’s football and he’s wearing a United shirt with the United crest and
he has to fight for [it]."
With
group rivals Valencia and Young Boys facing off in the early kick-off, United
can afford no further slip-ups in their pursuit of the last-16.
A
blunt United attack mustered just two shots on target during their 1-0 defeat
to Juve last month, with Mourinho hailing the Bianconeri's defence as
"beautiful".
Max
Allegri's back-line will again be marshalled by Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio
Chiellini and the Portuguese coach is well aware of the challenge facing his
side.
“It’s
not easy, it’s not easy," the ex-Real Madrid boss added. "They have
the quality, the know-how, the confidence – they have absolutely everything. I
analyse them in many different circumstances.
"Even
with one player less [after Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card] against Valencia,
they were very, very comfortable defensively.
"I’ve
coached in Italy [at Inter Milan] and know the strength of the Italian teams
and the Italian players in the way they approach matches defensively, so it’s
not easy.
"But
we have talented players in attack, we have creative players who can give them
problems too.
"I
think the basic thing for us is to go from a solid situation where we don’t
make many mistakes behind because when you make mistakes behind, sometimes you
concede goals and other times you lose confidence.”
No comments:
Post a Comment