Jose Mourinho appeared to question Manchester Unitedâs medical staff after a âbad injuryâ brought Ander Herreraâs return to an early halt at Sevilla.
David De Gea grabbed the headlines with a string of fine saves to keep the hosts at bay as the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie ended 0-0.
Paul Pogba had dominated the agenda before kick-off after being left on the bench, although just 17 minutes in Mourinho had to turn to the club-record signing.
Having missed the last three matches with a muscle issue, Herrera limped off and is now facing another spell on the sidelines.
âI think itâs a bad injury,â Mourinho said.
âHe had a small injury that stopped him for the last couple of matches, but the medical department gave him 100 per cent ready for the last Saturday (at Huddersfield in the FA Cup).
âWe didnât play him to give more work and more protection, but it looks like he was not fully fit.
âThe medical department gave him fully fit. They gave him fully fit Saturday and he trained Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and he looked fit.
âThe way he was playing during the time he was on the pitch, I think he showed that intensity that is only possible when you are fit.
âHe was pressing really high, we start the match not giving one inch to (Ever) Banega, pressing him really high.
âAnder was one of them, Scott (McTominay) was the other one, and you only do that when you feel really good.
âThen the back-heel creates a contraction in the muscular area where he had a fitness problem, and now we have the proof that he was not 100 per cent fit.â
Things would have been worse than Herreraâs injury had De Gea not saved Unitedâs blushes, with his stop from Luis Murielâs header late in the first half particularly eye-catching.
Mourinho refrained from heaping praise on the man-of-the-match and insisted 0-0 was a fair result, despite Sevilla being on top and managing 25 attempts.
âNo, I am not relieved,â the United boss said. âI think we finished the game with more space with more close to the possibility of scoring a goal, so no.
âI think that the only moment where we felt relieved was in the last couple of minutes in the first half, where a couple of our mistakes in possession (meant) they had a couple of good situations, with two great saves from David.
âThat gave this fantastic stadium the emotion they normally have for 90 minutes.
âApart from that I was never relieved. The game was even, the stats are what they are.
âSometimes you have 15 shots, but 13 of them were what I call âstatistic shotsâ, so I really feel that the result reflects what the game was.
âYou ask me is it a good result? I say it is not good, it is not bad.
âWe had two legs to play and now we have one match to decide everything at Old Trafford.â
Sevilla counterpart Vincenzo Montella was proud of his sideâs effort in the first leg.
âIâm proud because the team has shown pride, quality and personality,â he said.
âFor the fans, who have been huge, it was a very good night that could have been even better, but the tie is open.â