Mourinho to change Man Utd's defence for Champions League

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Manchester United defenders Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling to face Basle
Neither Lindelof nor Smalling have played since the UEFA Super Cup defeat
United begin European quest after Stoke City ended their 100 per cent record
Mourinho bemoaned Stoke's physicality but Mark Hughes gave that short shrift

Published: 17:30 EDT, 10 September 2017 | Updated: 04:52 EDT, 11 September 2017

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Manchester United's return to the Champions League was always going to represent a test of strength in depth and it is under the microscope straight away.

The suspended Phil Jones and Eric Bailly are both missing so Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof come in on Tuesday against an out-of-form Basle side beaten 2-1 by Lausanne at the weekend.

Neither Lindelof nor Smalling have played since the UEFA Super Cup defeat against Real Madrid and manager Jose Mourinho will have an idea after the Basle game as to whether United can make an impact on the competition.

Manchester United centre-back Phil Jones will be forced to sit out the trip to Basle this week

Eric Bailly is suspended for the first Champions League group game against the Swiss side

Jose Mourinho is set to partner Victor Lindelof with Chris Smalling against Basle on Tuesday

The players are unsure at the moment, with the diplomatic Ander Herrera urging caution.

'We have to know where we come from,' he said. 'We have come from the Europa League, we won it and it is very important and it is a very good title but it is the Europa League.

'We were sixth in the Premier League so we have to respect every team we face. Basle have been Swiss champions for many years, they have a talented team. They sell players to the world with a lot of talent. We are a big club but we were not in Champions League last season. We cannot think of winning the Champions League now.

Jose Mourinho and Mark Hughes shared an embrace prior to kick-off before things got prickly

The contest ended without a handshake between the pair as Mourinho headed for the tunnel

'Being in the Champions League is a basic requirement for us, that is why the game against Ajax was the game of our lives. It was certainly the game of my career.'

Mourinho may still be stewing after refusing to shake the hand of Mark Hughes after the 2-2 draw at Stoke. Hughes pushed the United boss and told him to 'f*** off' when he encroached on his technical area. Mourinho bemoaned Stoke's physicality but Hughes gave that short shrift.

'I think it's a bit lazy to keep on reverting to that Stoke are a physical team thing,' said Hughes. 'I'd argue that in general play they played more long balls than we did because they've got that threat and that's what they try to exploit.'