Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has rejected suggestions that his team selection against Chelsea pointed at a decision to prioritise the Europa League over the Premier League.
United are still fighting on both fronts as they bid to secure Champions League football next season, but Mourinho raised a number of eyebrows by resting the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for today's visit of the Premier League leaders.
Despite a somewhat weakened side, United still managed to emerge 2-0 winners at Old Trafford, and Mourinho insists that he will not give up hope of finishing in the top four until it is mathematically impossible.
"Maybe we didn't rest. Maybe we just chose the team that we thought was the best team. I cannot yet give up the Premier League," he told Sky Sports News.
"We have to try and if one day we are in the Europa League and in the Premier League the distance is too big, then we have to prioritise and nobody can criticise us if in the last matches of the league we do it in a different way. But while it is mathematically possible, we have to go with everything we have."
United still trail the top four by four points, but they have at least one game in hand over all of the teams above them in the table.
Barney Corkhill
