Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants tells Manchester United their pitch was WORSE when they beat Sparta Prague
* Jose Mourinho has criticised the state of the the pitch at the Olimp-2 Stadium
* Rostov boss Ivan Daniliants says it was worse when they beat Sparta Prague
* Daniliants has told Mourinho that players can get injured on any type of pitch
* Manchester United face Rostov in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie
Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants has responded to Jose Mourinho's criticism of the pitch at the Olimp-2 Stadium by telling the Manchester United manager that it was worse when Sparta Prague played in the last round of the Europa League.
Daniliants also reminded Mourinho that injuries happen in all football games amid concerns that United's stars could be hurt in Thursday's last 16 first-leg tie in Russia.
Mourinho was fiercely critical of the playing surface when United inspected it on Wednesday morning before training, but Daniliants insisted that it was UEFA's decision to go ahead with the game.
Referring to Rostov's 4-0 win at home Sparta in mid-February, he said: 'There were no incidents on this pitch before because we already played against Sparta Prague and the pitch was actually worse.
'We understand that it's not a decision of our club it's UEFA's decision to play match. For sure we would like to play on better pitch like Wembley.
The pitch at the Olimp-2 Stadium is in poor condition ahead of Thursday's Europa League tie
'We understand that players can be injured. Football is a contact sport and maybe players get injured anyway on the best pitches with the best weather conditions. We would like to play on best fields but it's not our decision.
'It will be the same pitch for Rostov as Manchester United. Yes we understand that our rivals are not used to playing in a pitch of this condition, we could see that on TV at Wembley or Manchester. But it will be the same reality for us as them.'
Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants says their pitch was worse when they beat Sparta Prague
On the match itself, Daniliants added: 'All the players are preparing for the game tomorrow and I will decide my line-up tomorrow.
'For us, all the matches in the qualifying for the Champions League and the group stage were very important. We understand the level of our opponent level is higher than our level.'
Code:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4293766/Rostov-manager-Ivan-Daniliants-responds-Man-United.html