Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed that Nemanja Matic won’t be involved in Tuesday’s Champions League clash versus CSKA Moscow.
The Serbia international played the full 90 minutes of the 3-1 win over Arsenal last weekend despite initial doubts over his participation due to a muscular problem.
Speaking in the lead-up to the CSKA game, Mourinho confirmed that the 29-year-old won’t feature versus the Russian champions as he is still carrying the problem sustained at Watford last month.
“We have problems, we have injuries. Matic is injured and when I say he is injured, he is injured. I am not going to make him play tomorrow so Matic is out,” Mourinho is quoted as saying on United’s official website.
Mourinho is expected to rest a number of first-team star with an eye on Sunday’s Manchester derby, and this could potentially offer opportunities to the likes of Matteo Darmian, Daley Blind among others, who have rarely got a run in the Premier League.
Matic has managed 20 starts for Manchester United since his switch from Chelsea earlier in the summer, and Mourinho would surely want him afresh for the Manchester City game, where the club will have to cope without Paul Pogba.
Pogba will serve a three-man ban as a result of his reckless challenge on Hector Bellerin, and Ander Herrera will be required to step up to the plate despite not being in the best of form this season.
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