Jose Mourinho says Manchester United were made to suffer for not taking advantage on a “perfect” first-half performance after Basel scored a late winner at St Jakob-Park.
He told a news conference: “The first half was a perfect half without the goals.
“It was perfect, and it was difficult to repeat in the second half. We knew that the opponent would try a different reaction.
“Frustration starts in the first half. I was counting to my assistants, one, two and three, then four and five, then Martial, six, Fellaini, seven.
“We go to half-time 0-0 and put ourselves in this situation and in the second half it would be difficult to have the same number of chances.”
He said: “The only thing I can get from the goal is the low cross, the right-back coming in front of Daley.
“I know that in the flash interview Daley was blaming himself. It’s totally unfair.
“I refuse that situation because we are a team, and in the first half we should be winning five or 6-0 and that was not Daley’s fault for sure.”
He added: “Did Paul Pogba coming out have an affect on the team? I think it had.
“We were not such a good team after Paul came out but he had to be, he cannot go to levels of fatigue after 65 minutes.
“But I brought to the pitch an experienced player like [Nemanja] Matic that I thought could affect the game, I bring Marcus [Rashford] to give us more depth, more speed, more problems, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] to hold the ball, drop and have it, the approach was good.
“I cannot blame the players I think we play a match like this 10 times and nine we win comfortably. The one was now.”
Support InfoStride News' Credible Journalism: Only credible journalism can guarantee a fair, accountable and transparent society, including democracy and government. It involves a lot of efforts and money. We need your support. Click here to Donate