Mourinho confirms two FC Basel starters

Centrebacks Phil Jones and Eric Bailly are both unavailable with European bans meaning Jose Mourinho needs to shuffle his pack, meaning Lindelof and Chris Smalling will be given their chance at the heart of the United defence, as per the Express.

Mourinho suggested Fellaini had picked up the injury before the global break and seemed unimpressed he played 89 minutes for Belgium against Greece before being ruled out of the trip to Stoke.

“He’s a very important player for me – much more important than what you can imagine”, Mourinho said. “I feel weaker without him”.

“Of course, in the first season I was trying to improve (this)”.

“I think it’s a bit lazy of people to keep on reverting to that “Stoke are a physical team” thing”.

When players like Xherdan Shaqiri, Granit Xhaka and Breel Embolo were sold in recent years, they were often replaced by shrewd acquisitions like Mohamed Salah, who left Basel for Chelsea after his goals beat the current English champion four years ago.

Stoke’s second goal came from a corner that followed a stunning save from David de Gea to deny Jese Rodriguez.

Ander Herrera has a stark warning for his Manchester United team-mates, insisting it would be a mistake to underestimate their Champions League opponents.

For FC Basel, a visit to Manchester and Old Trafford is all too familiar and should bring back happy memories.

United will kick off the Champions League campaign on Tuesday, with tickets still available to buy.

“We want to fight for every title“.

Barcelona will respond, I think because they are driven by the loss of Neymar and they are a great club with a massive history.

Basel have never progressed further than the Last 16 in the Champions League (2011/12, 2014/15).

Basel famously knocked the Red Devils out of the 2011-12 Champions League at the group stage, but José Mourinho’s men are a different kind of animal now and are currently one of Europe’s best sides in terms of form.

Paul Pogba has only scored two goals in 32 Champions League games.

De Gea’s side burst out of the blocks at the start of their domestic campaign, topping the Premier League table. Only Carlo Ancelotti (7), Rafael Benitez and Claudio Ranieri (6) have taken charge of more clubs in the competition.

“Raphael Wicky has to be courageous, to risk something”.