Ronaldo had only taken part in two training sessions prior to Tuesday’s match (Picture: Getty)
Ronaldo had only taken part in two training sessions prior to Tuesday’s match (Picture: Getty)

Jose Mourinho has claimed Manchester United could have triumphed over Real Madrid in Tuesday night’s UEFA Super Cup contest had the referee not been star-struck by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Champions League holders claimed a 2-1 victory in Skopje, Macedonia thanks to goals from Casemiro and Isco, with Romelu Lukaku netting a consolation goal to keep the match in the balance.

But Mourinho says United’s hopes were over as soon as Ronaldo came off the bench in the 83rd minute, while he criticised the decision to award Casemiro’s first goal claiming it was offside.

Mourinho was happy with his team’s performance and looking forward to facing West Ham (Getty)
Mourinho was happy with his team’s performance and looking forward to facing West Ham (Getty)

‘With a good VAR it would be 1-1 and extra time,’ the Portuguese coach told BT Sport after the final whistle.

‘I think they could score more goals than they did, and we could score more goals than we did.

‘I think they had a period of dominance in the middle of the first half. We had a period of dominance in the middle of second half, and the rest was balanced.

‘We were playing against a team full of fantastic players, but we discussed the result until almost the end.

‘Then Cristiano came on and the referee wanted to show the respect for this amazing player. Every time Cristiano wanted it, the ref blew for a free-kick and the game was stopped.

‘But we gave them a good fight.’

Ronaldo did in fact win three fouls during his seven minutes (plus stoppage time) on the pitch, more than any other Manchester United player suffered in the entire 90 minutes.

The Portuguese forward had only taken part in two training sessions prior to Tuesday night’s match, having been granted an extended holiday by Zinedine Zidane following his Confederations Cup exploits.

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