Mourinho’s worst nightmare: Man United could face European giants in knockout round after loss to Basel

FC Basel kept their hopes for qualifying to the Champions League knockout stages alive after a 1-0 win over Manchester United.

A late Michael Lang strike secured victory over three-time champions and current Europa League holders Manchester United on Wednesday night at the St. Jakob Park.

Manchester United, who still lead the group with 12 points, needed a point to secure qualification to the last 16, but at humble pie when the stubborn Swiss side managed by Raphael Wicky dug deep to secure victory at home.

In a game that saw record signing Romelu Lukaku miss a clear opportunity to score, Mourinho blamed his attacking players for the loss, saying that failure to score somehow amounted to their loss.

It looked for many periods in the first half that it was impossible not to win. I think the majority of the second half the feeling of everyone was okay, it will be 0-0, but they got the late goal,’ said a disappointed Mourinho.

For English sides, the Champions League campaign this season has been good, with Tottenham, Manchester city, Chelsea and Liverpool already securing spots in the knockout phases.

Manchester United still need a point to qualify top of the group and have the chance to do that when they welcome Benfica to the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ in the last group fixture.

If Manchester United qualify on top, they will be in contention to face either Porto, Real Madrid, Juventus, Sevilla or Bayern Munich since the clubs are set to qualify in second place.

Mourinho will want to avoid a top team in the round of 16 if he has any ambition of winning the Champions League this season.

Basel and CSKA Moscow are tied on 9 points with the Swiss side having a better goal difference.