Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said his French star Paul Pogba was laughing after the Europa League draw for the Round of 32 as Manchester United were against St. Etienne, the team that Pogba’s elder brother Florentin plays for.
Florentin, 26, is a left-back and has played 13 games this season for Christophe Galtier’s side. In those games, St. Etienne have kept six clean sheets. Unlike Paul, though, Florentin plays international football for Guinea.
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The Portuguese manager said, "That's a nice thing, Paul was already laughing about it and for sure his brother is also laughing. It has happened a few times in the history of football and it's a nice thing."
Mourinho happy that United don’t have to travel much
Mourinho was also relieved by the fact that the draw left United with not too much travelling to do.
After gruelling trips to Turkey and Ukraine during the group stages, the Red Devils make the trip to France, which is around a 90-minute flight from Manchester.
The Red Devils topped their group, after winning their last two Group A games against Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk.
"The good thing is the travel distance," he said. "We were very unlucky in the group phase, we had to go very far, it was very difficult to go to Turkey, Ukraine.
"Now we go to France because the flight is easy and it’s not an easy period, there are lots of games, so that is good,” said the Portugues manager.
Saint-Etienne are a good team: Mourinho
St. Etienne are two-time European Cup runners-up, having faltered at the final hurdle on two consecutive occasions in 1975 and 1976. The charismatic Portuguese is well aware of that history.
"Then Saint-Etienne is a historic old club with lots of tradition. People of my generation will never forget that Michel Platini team and it will be difficult because every team now is a good team in the competition.“
The United manager though is focused on getting the Old Trafford club’s Premier League campaign back on track. After a first home league win in five attempts when they beat Spurs 1-0 on Sunday, United face a trip to Selhurst Park to face struggling Crystal Palace.
Mourinho said, “For sure, Manchester United is one of the big names in the competition, but we have two months without the Europa League, two months to forget it, then we will see.“
United are currently sixth in the Premier League table and find themselves six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and 13 points behind runaway leaders, Chelsea.
