Jose Mourinho has made known that he will be aiming at the record for most UEFA Champion League matches as a manager ahead of his team’s highly anticipated return to the contest this month.
Sir Alex Ferguson Currently Holds the Record
Celebrated boss of the Reds, Sir Alex Ferguson holds the unsurpassed record with a total of 194 games, and Mourinho’s total currently stands at 133. He has also won the Champions League twice, with Porto back in 2004, and Inter Milan as recently as 2010.
Mourinho Pleased for Man United’s Return
Mourinho, after helping the Reds take first place at the Europa League in his debut season at Old Trafford, has said that returning to the biggest stage in European football is a good thing for everyone involved with the club, and that he most certainly has Ferguson’s success in his sights.
Speaking to MUTV recently, Mourinho said that this was certainly the direction he and his team wished to head in, and that the credit that Man United deserved for last season was related to them being successful in habitats unknown, and doing everything to win it the way they did.
With online betting sites the world over keeping an eagle eye on developments, Mourinho has stated that the Champions League is where they want to be, and he hoped he wasn’t being overly ambitious, but that he was aiming at being the record-holding manager as well.
Mourinho has a Ways to go
Mourinho added that he knew that he was currently quite far from the top number, but that he was determined to fight hard for it. He spoke of losing a season in the chase for the record last season, but added that Manchester United as a team where exactly where they should be in terms of sports performance and psychology, and that he was happy with that.
He spoke of the Champions League being a unique experience for everyone involved, and that he was particularly excited about giving his players who had not yet tasted it the chance to play.
A Challenging Placement for the Reds
Manchester United has ended up being placed in Group A alongside Swiss winners Basel, Portuguese champions Benfica and Russia’s CSKA Moscow. Although the draw could certainly have been much tougher, Mourinho still feels that it will challenge his team.
He spoke of people who said that it was a great draw not really understanding the difficulties of football, and that these commenters were not aware of the teams’ histories and what exactly Manchester United were going to be facing. He said it was a difficult draw, actually, and that any team could get any points in any of the matches.
He said that the group had two top teams and two weaker ones, and, as far as the group phase Champions League qualification was concerned, he had had some experience in the more than 120 matches he had been a part of.
Mourinho said that it was sometimes better to have two top teams, since the discussion would then be around who would place first and who would place second. With four teams, anyone could rack up points, points would be shared, and results would be discussed, and this is what made this draw a tough one.
