Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United and Tottenham are the two favourites to win the Europa League this season.
United have begun their Europa League campaign with draws against FC Twente and Porto and are looking to secure their first win in this season’s competition against Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in Turkey on Thursday evening.
Tottenham, meanwhile, have registered victories against Qarabag FK and Ferencvaros, which gives them a strong change of securing an automatic place in the knockout phase.
Mourinho, who won the Europa League with United in 2017, has defended the performances by Erik ten Hag’s side in Europe this term and the 61-year-old feels his two formers clubs are in the best position to win the tournament.
‘They [United] didn’t win, they didn’t lose and in this format where everybody tries to figure out what we need but nobody knows, I think every point you get is always a difficult point,’ Mourinho said.
‘To play in Porto is not easy, to get a point in Porto is not easy for anybody.
‘We also played against Twente, of course, the world expects Man United to beat twente at Old Trafford but it was a difficult game.
‘What I can say is one thing are the results that Manchester United are having and another thing is the potential of the team. The potential of the team is high, I think the two draws in the Europa League doesn’t favour us but also doesn’t make a huge difference.
‘At the end of the day, this new format will always allow that the top teams are going to qualify. No problem for a top team to lose three or four matches out of eight because then they will win three or four, they will make 12 points easily and they qualify, so I think they are in a stable situation.
‘If I have to say now which are the two biggest candidates to win the Europa League, I think it’s easy – Man United and Tottenham.
‘The Premier League is a different level of quality, it’s a different level of intensity, it’s a different level of pace, it’s a different level of tactical culture, it’s a different level of everything.
‘I think tomorrow we are going to play against one of the two strongest teams.’
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