Wembley no advantage for Spurs in semi-final, warns Mourinho

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has warned Tottenham that playing Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley will not give them an advantage.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have played all their home matches at England’s national stadium this season, while work on the new White Hart Lane is completed.

Mourinho, though does not think Spurs will have any kind of edge this weekend and says he is not preparing for the match any differently than he did in the early rounds.

He told a news conference: “I played one cup final in Roma’s stadium against Roma [as Inter coach in 2010] and I won, and I played a cup final in my stadium [at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2013, as Real Madrid coach] and I lost, so I think, when you go to these big moments with big decisions, semi-finals, finals, I don’t think it’s an advantage at all.

“In some countries, even the cup semi-final is played with a draw and you play home or away, not at a neutral ground, and that’s just football.

“I look at Tottenham-Manchester United the same way I looked at Huddersfield, or Brighton. This time it’s away but I don’t see any advantage. It’s the same as playing at Old Trafford.”

Wembley: we’re coming home. #MUFC #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/WIXKrtEqli

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2018

Mourinho, who denied the suggestion his season will be a failure if United do not win the FA Cup, has had his team training in London since the 2-0 Premier League win at Bournemouth on Wednesday.

The Portuguese has thanked Fulham and head coach Slavisa Jokanovic for allowing United to use their facilities as they prepare for Saturday’s showdown.

“Yesterday [Thursday] they let us use Craven Cottage and today [Friday] I asked for a pitch on the training ground [Motspur Park] and Jokanovic, the manager, gave me their best pitch so I have to thank Fulham and Joka for that,” he told MUTV.

“I think it’s just good for us after the Bournemouth game, instead of travelling back to Manchester, getting the plane, then go back home, come back the next day, train to London again. But we just came here [to London], we’re here together, training quietly, preparing for the game the best we can.”