Manchester United touch down after pre-season tour of USA

Ilkay Gundogan dismantles his Barcelona team-mates, telling sent-off Ronald Araujo he 'killed the game' and bemoaning how 'nobody came out' to defend PSG leveller in brutally honest interview
Kate Abdo breaks down in tears recalling memories with her late father after he died late last year - including a moment from her rarely-mentioned previous marriage
ENGLAND'S GOLDEN AGE OF GOALS: Six of the Premier League's top 10 are English and that doesn't even include Kane and Bellingham. How on earth will Southgate fit them all in his Euros squad?
Portsmouth footballers and fans trash an O'Neills pub and are thrown out after stripping naked, standing on tables and throwing drinks in a beer-soaked late-night promotion party celebration
Cyriel Dessers to score first and Rangers to beat Dundee 3-1 priced at 40/1... as the Gers aim to close the gap to Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic
Why a team who have only qualified from the Champions League group stage ONCE could beat Arsenal to qualify for FIFA's expanded Club World Cup - with Chelsea and Man City also invited - but Barcelona WON'T be there
Fans amazed after an England U15s teamsheet from 2017 emerges online and it was stacked with talent... but how many of those stars do YOU know?
ITV football pundit Eni Aluko makes remarkable claim that UK stadiums are 'NOT safe for women' and suggests there is 'daily casual racism, sexism and misogyny' at the top of the sport
Football's first superstar who worked at the same pit as my grandad... and puts the PFA to shame
PSG manager Luis Enrique's showjumper daughter Sira Martinez is 'dating Ferran Torres' international team-mate' - after splitting up with the Barcelona star last year
England World Cup hero Steve Thompson slams rugby bosses for 'flogging players until they fall apart' - and accuses them of not taking concerns over head injuries seriously
Jadon Sancho and Marcel Sabitzer deal Man United boss Erik ten Hag a huge blow in the race for European football... as Borussia Dortmund reach the Champions League semi-finals
Revealed: What Ronald Araujo's hand gesture after getting sent off means... as Barcelona star fumes over early red card in Champions League clash with PSG
Red-carded Xavi blames Romanian referee for Barca's Champions League implosion as he insists it was 'too much' to send off Ronald Araujo... before PSG scored FOUR to turn tie around
Ian Maatsen sends a thinly-veiled message to parent club Chelsea after he scores crucial goal in Borussia Dortmund's Champions League quarter-final win over Atletico Madrid
Football lawmakers will trial major rule change which goalkeepers will HATE... as fresh details emerge of how it will work and who will be affected
Arsenal did well to avoid signing a star of Italy's Euro 2020 squad, Rafael Leao is under pressure and Inter Milan look tired... 10 THINGS WE LEARNED from Serie A at the weekend
How Britain's greatest Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave didn't make final interviews for British Rowing job... and for the first time in 40 years, he won't be at Paris Games as his BBC work has dried up
Inside the mind of the Premier League's top scorer COLE PALMER, who continues to show why Pep Guardiola was wrong to let him go
Barcelona manager Xavi and THREE of his players are handed brutal rating by L'Equipe - and that's without unrated Ronald Araujo - after Kylian Mbappe 'made their stadium his garden'
Team GB's predicted medals total is REVEALED, as stats boffins forecast them finishing behind hosts France in the table at Paris 2024... so which stars do they tip for gold?
Why any club who wants Zinedine Zidane as manager has a mountain to climb to convince him: PETE JENSON on serial winner who United, Liverpool and Co won't bother targeting
Boxing star Ryan Garcia is KICKED OUT of the New York Mets' stadium as officials 'pull the plug on plans to let him throw the first pitch' - before he goes on expletive-laden Twitter rant and claims he will 'expose' the team
Arsenal need a striker. Could they REALLY try to lure Ollie Watkins after he KO'd them? Asks SAMI MOKBEL

Manchester United were beaten 1-0 by Barcelona on Wednesday night with Brazilian Neymar on target
The match marked the end of the Premier League side's whistle-stop pre-season tour of the United States
Paul Pogba, striker Romelu Lukaku and Jose Mourinho were all pictured landing back in the UK on Thursday
United beat Manchester City on their tour and also faced Champions League winners Real Madrid

Published: 09:42 EDT, 27 July 2017 | Updated: 11:52 EDT, 27 July 2017

e-mail

303

View
comments

Manchester United arrived home from their pre-season tour of the United States on Thursday afternoon, fresh from a narrow defeat by fellow European giants Barcelona.

Jose Mourinho's side fell to a Neymar goal in the final match of their stateside jaunt.

Paul Pogba, who Mourinho singled out for praise after the clash with the Catalan giants, came out of the terminal almost an hour after his team-mates after waiting on his luggage.

Paul Pogba arrives at Manchester airport after being kept waiting for his luggage for almost an hour after his team-mates

Boss Jose Mourinho sported a full United tracksuit complete with hood (left), while Pogba larked about for the cameras

Romelu Lukaku signs a shirt for United fans waiting at the airport to greet their new £75million signing

England and United striker Marcus Rashford strolls through the airport following the club's whistle-stop tour of the States

The Frenchman didn't let the frustration get to him as he joked around with photographers on his way out.

United's tour saw them beat MLS sides LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake before a triumph over Manchester City. They then drew with Real Madrid four days before the Barcelona loss.

Mourinho's side will now return to their Carrington base before flying out to Norway to take on Valarenga.

Fans waited to meet their heroes at the airport, particularly to get a glimpse of new £75million signing Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgian, who joined up with his team-mates in the States after sealing the big-money move from Everton, stopped to sign shirts for the waiting supporters.

It was Pogba, though, who grabbed the headlines at the close of their tour after Mourinho claimed he was on the same level as Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Goalkeeper David de Gea returns alongside his United team-mates following confirmation he will stay at Old Trafford

Anthony Martial (left) came on as a second-half substitute in the Barcelona defeat - Juan Mata is recovering from injury

Armenian forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has promised to kick on his second season in England, arrives back in the UK

Mourinho said: 'Messi and Neymar, there is only one Messi and one Neymar. (Luis) Suarez, (Andres) Iniesta, (Gerard) Pique, (Cristiano) Ronaldo, (Gareth) Bale, (Luka) Modric, Toni Kroos, there is only one, so they can only be playing for one club - we can't have them, they belong to the clubs.

'One of my players, Paul Pogba, showed the level and he belongs to that level.

'There are players that are special players and there is nothing you can do. You try to compensate the difference in quality with a certain tactical organisation.

'With that you can win in football, it's possible a team is in a certain day better than the sum of the parts, that's possible in football but the parts are amazing.'

The Frenchman was unable to prevent his side from slipping to defeat in Maryland. But United showed enough quality to convince Barcelona boss Ernesto Vervalde that they are a team to avoid in this season's Champions League.

Antonio Valencia wheels his luggage through the airport. It was his failure to deal with a through ball that led to Neymar's goal

Luke Shaw, who did not feature against Barcelona and has been recovering from injury, wore a full United tracksuit for the trip

England forward Jesse Lingard started the defeat in Maryland but was unable to net for his side before being substituted

Mourinho's side finished sixth in the Premier League and only clinched a place at Europe's top table thanks to their victory in the Europa League.

But Valverde, who this summer took over from Luis Enrique, said: 'This year they are going to be in the Champions League. Their presence by itself is impressive. They impress.

'I think they are going to be a really hard team to beat. For me, they are contenders to win and they are going to be hard to beat in the Premier League and the Champions League.

'I wouldn't want to face them in the Champions League.'

United will only remain at their Carrington base briefly before they head to Norway, where Spanish duo Ander Herrera and Juan Mata are expected to return from injury.

Neither player featured in the defeat by Barcelona. Mata has been struggling with an ankle injury, while Herrera has not played since limping off against Real Madrid.