Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has admitted that he was not surprised to see his team lose to Borussia Dortmund in Friday's pre-season clash in Shanghai.
Man United, just one game into their pre-season, were beaten 4-1 by Dortmund, who began their preparations for the new campaign at the start of July and already had four friendly matches under their belt entering Friday's fixture.
Mourinho, who took charge of the Red Devils this summer, has insisted that 'losing is never good', but was not concerned by the defeat due to the difference in fitness between the two European outfits.
"In pre-season, the team that wins is always the team that is advanced in their preparations. It is never the best team, always the team in advance. It was too obvious tonight - a team with four matches in their legs versus one with one match. There was a huge difference in the preparation, but nobody likes to lose," Mourinho told MUTV.
"I am happy with the 90 minutes that we have in our legs, which is very important. Some people prefer to play lower-quality teams and get confidence, but when you play a team like Borussia, obviously it is more difficult. I think the players are frustrated because nobody likes to lose.
"In this moment we are not creating a team because so many players are not here. At the moment we are creating individuals and that is very important. It will take a long time to recover from this effort - the game plus the weather."
Man United will take on Manchester City in their third pre-season match on Monday.
Matt Law
