Jose Mourinho has spoken about his team selection ahead of tonight’s Europa League round of 16 first-leg clash with Dinamo Zagreb (8pm kick-off).
Making seven changes to the side that defeated Crystal Palace 4-1 in the Premier League on Sunday evening, Jose admitted, with some players having started three games in just eight days such as Gareth Bale and Toby Alderweireld, he has moved to freshen things up against our Croatian visitors.
On Gareth, who starts tonight’s game on the bench, Jose explained how he is managing our number nine amidst the current fixture schedule: “Yes, we are (managing him), not just me, me and him, his feelings, the way he feels his body, so many matches that we have to play. Of course, the second leg is more important than the first leg, in the end. Arsenal away, Villa away, it’s too much, not just for Gareth, for everyone, so we are managing him a little.”
Eric Dier meanwhile comes into the starting XI for the first time since our last Europa League outing – a 4-0 home win over Wolfsberger AC at the end of February. Fellow centre-back Toby Alderweireld, who has started each of our last four games, begins on the bench.
“Toby was playing three consecutive 90 minutes, 270 in about a week,” our Head Coach said. ”Dier is a good player, a player we trust, so we don’t see much in this change, it’s just a question of playing with a fresh player, also motivated, because they want to play every game and if he is not playing in the Premier League in the last couple of matches, it’s a good motivation for him to play tonight.”