Manchester United boss José Mourinho has said that there are no new injury worries for the Reds ahead of their UEFA Super Cup clash against Real Madrid tomorrow night.
The Reds travelled to Skopje on Monday morning to prepare for the traditional curtain-raiser to the European footballing season against the Champions League winners, and in the pre-match press conference, Mourinho reaffirmed that there were no new concerns ahead of the showpiece clash, with Eric Bailly and Phil Jones also suspended.
Mourinho also confirmed that Timothy Fosu-Mensah had not travelled to Macedonia with the side, as he is reportedly undergoing a medical ahead of a loan move to Crystal Palace.
He said:
With Phil Jones, I was expecting the appeal [against the ban] to be negative. No Phil Jones, no Eric Bailly and no Tim Fosu-Mensah because, in this moment, Tim is probably going on loan to another club. So we made the decision not to travel with him.
The injuries are the long-term [ones] that you all know about – Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo. Apart from that, everybody is available. Obviously, Matic is available but not available like the others.
Mourinho’s words also indicate that new signing Nemanja Matic may not play a full 90 minutes against Los Blancos in the Skopje heat on Tuesday night, despite impressing in his first 45 minutes in a red shirt against Sampdoria in Dublin last week.
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As for Real Madrid, there were no surprises with their team news, with former Red Cristiano Ronaldo being brought back into the fold after missing pre-season due to his exertions with Portugal in the Confederations Cup.
However, he is not expected to play a full part in proceedings, with Zinedine Zidane’s only dilemma being whether to start with Gareth Bale or Marco Asensio on the left wing.
