It is well known that Mourinho prefers experienced players.
José Mourinho has praised Alexis Sánchez, highlighting his Champions League experience and know-how as the main factor that sets him apart from Romelu Lukaku.
Sánchez joined Man United this January in a move that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way, taking Sánchez’s number 7 shirt at Arsenal.
Lukaku is competing in the Champions League for the first time this season, whereas Sánchez has played in the prestigious competition before with Arsenal and Barcelona, although he has never won the competition.
Sánchez has also played in Serie A with Udinese and during his time at Arsenal became the first player to have scored a hat-trick in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.
“Alexis has a level that my attacking players don’t have,” said Mourinho.
“Alexis played Champions League for a few years with different clubs, at least one club that is feeling the responsibility to win it when he was at Barcelona.”
“Of my other boys, Lukaku is the first season in the Champions League, Rashford, Martial, Lingard, just a few matches. We don’t have many with that know-how.”
United will take on Sevilla in the first knockout stage of this season’s Champions League, and Mourinho will be relying on this know-how to get his team through to the quarter-finals.
