Mourinho will only let the £75m man take a spot-kick in very specific circumstances (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has opened up further on his decision to take Romelu Lukaku off penalty duties, and has revealed when the striker will next be given the responsibility.

With Anthony Martial having missed a first-half penalty in Tuesday night’s match against Benfica, Lukaku grabbed the ball to take a second spot-kick late in the second half to finish off the visitors.

But Mourinho gesticulated from the sidelines to give the penalty to Daley Blind, who dispatched it down the middle of the goal to seal a 2-0 victory – United’s fourth in the group stages.

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It means Lukaku has now failed to score in his last six games, and Mourinho says he will only let his £75m frontman take a spot-kick if there is nothing to play for in the match.

Asked by Viasport Fotball why he did not want Lukaku to take the penalty, Mourinho explained: ‘Because I am the manager and I make the decisions.

Lukaku placed the ball down to take the penalty before Mourinho intervened (Picture: Getty)

‘He missed the last one and I want him to take a penalty when there is no pressure, when there is no responsibility, and when there is no need of scoring the goal.

‘We are playing in the Champions League, we need points. We are not even now – with 12 points – qualified.

‘It was an important moment of the game with 10 minutes to go. I want a player free of the pressure of having missed the last one.

Instead of Lukaku, Blind stepped up and buried the penalty to make it four wins out of four (Getty)
Instead of Lukaku, Blind stepped up and buried the penalty to make it four wins out of four (Getty)

‘So I’m really happy with his personality, I’m really happy that he wants to take the responsibility, but I’m here sometimes to protect players and to protect the team.

‘And in that moment I protect him. And maybe Blind misses, but I need to protect him [Lukaku] because he missed the last one.’

Mourinho has suggested Lukaku is very short on confidence right now (Picture: Getty)
Mourinho has suggested Lukaku is very short on confidence right now (Picture: Getty)

He continued: ‘I think I protect him. Because if he misses the penalty, the team would be in the danger of a 1-0 result, it would be a second consecutive miss for him.

‘So he will take a penalty when the game is over, and the game was not over.’

Despite netting seven times in the Premier League this season, Lukaku has not scored in all competitions since the easy victory over Crystal Palace at the very end of September – and his manager’s words are unlikely to do much good for his confidence.