Football
Mark Ogden, Senior Writer, ESPN FC 7y

Jose Mourinho: Being drawn against Rostov is bad for Manchester United

Jose Mourinho has described Manchester United's Europa League pairing with FC Rostov as "bad in every aspect" and said the Russians would pose a stern test.

Rostov -- seventh in the Russian Premier League, 15 points adrift of leaders Spartak Moscow -- dropped into the Europa League after finishing third in a Champions League group that contained Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid.

And with United facing a 5,000-mile round-trip to Rostov for the first leg on March 9 ahead of an FA Cup quarterfinal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge four days later, Mourinho said: "It is a bad draw in every aspect.

"It is far and it is difficult, and comes in a bad period for us.

"They are a very difficult team. They had a very good Champions League campaign and also beat Ajax and Anderlecht in the playoffs.

"They then had a very difficult group with Bayern and Atletico and but beat Bayern at home. They got third place and knocked out PSV Eindhoven, so they are a strong team.

"I know their manager [Kurban Berdyev] having faced him when I was at Inter Milan and he with Rubin Kazan, so I know they will be very defensive and a very physical team.

"It's a bad draw, but after Southampton and Bournemouth [in the Premier League], we will focus on it and go for it."

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