Jose Mourinho took his team to Basel in the UEFA Champions League for the first time in four years.
And lost again.
Manchester United traveled to Basel in the Champions League for the first time in six years.
Photo: EPA-EFE
And lost again.
History on Wednesday repeated itself when Basel struck in the 89th minute to beat Mourinho’s United 1-0, spoiling his team’s previously perfect record in Group A and putting an expected round-of-16 place on hold with one game remaining.
Recent Champions League seasons have taught that Basel are especially tough against English opponents at noisy and vibrant St Jakob Park.
United learned their lesson for failing to finish their chances when dominating the game.
“In the first half, we should be winning 5 or 6-0,” Mourinho said. “The game was easy to win.”
In a wildly different second half, there seemed only one team likely to win long before Michael Lang’s goal.
The Switzerland international arrived at the far post to slot in a low shot from fellow wingback Raoul Petretta’s pass across the goalmouth.
There were echoes of Mourinho’s visit in November 2013 — an 87th-minute goal and a 1-0 loss for Chelsea.
“In that match, I don’t think we had one shot on target. We played really bad,” Mourinho said of that previous defeat. “Today, it was not the case. Today, in the first half I think we were really, really good.”
At least United have one more game to clinch their expected place in the round-of-16. There was no second chance when a United team coached by Alex Ferguson lost 2-1 in Basel in December 2011 and were eliminated.
Mourinho’s easy-going attitude 20 minutes after the final whistle can also be explained by the mathematics of the Group A table.
United lead by three points from Basel and CSKA Moscow, and can only be eliminated in a tiebreaker on Dec. 5. That would need Basel to win at SL Benfica, plus an improbable seven-goal loss at Old Trafford against a Russian team they have already beaten 4-1 in Moscow.
Still, Mourinho went easier on his team than some TV analysts, with Rio Ferdinand, who lifted the trophy when United won the last of their three European titles in 2007-2008, saying that the players were lacking discipline in the second half.
“It is hard for me to be upset with the players,” Mourinho said. “The first half the attitude was good, the football was good.”
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