Manchester United face Juventus in the first of their Champions League double-header on Tuesday knowing that a victory would give them a great chance of reaching the knockout stages, having opened up a gap over third-place Valencia after their draw last time out.
But defeating last season’s Champions League quarter-finalists will be a tough ask for Jose Mourinho’s side given they arrive at Old Trafford with former United forward Cristiano Ronaldo in the ranks, with Juventus also looking to maintain their 100 per cent record in Europe this season.
Mourinho will speak to the media from 2pm where he will look ahead to the match itself, deliver that latest team news and no doubt be asked about Ronaldo’s Old Trafford return, as well as question over the fallout from the weekend’s 2-2 draw with his former club Chelsea. Follow his press conference live below.
And with that, Lukaku's gone. Short and sweet and little of substance, sadly.
Lukaku did at least address his goalscoring form, claiming that he finds it easier with Belgium as he's been playing with his international team-mates for a decade.
Why are you struggling to score goals this season? No goal in last seven games for United
I still think my teamwork between myself and my team has improved better. The players need to know my movement, I need to know their movement. Once that happens I think the results like we had in Belgium will start to come.
On Ronaldo, do you want to emulate him?
He's a guy that has been consistent for the last 10 years. He's an example for all the young players coming up.
Has the mood changed after two positive results?
The mood is really positive. We were disappointed with how the game ended against Chelsea but a lot has changed behind the scenes.
Lukaku has arrived...
The main line from that?
Despite reports linking Mourinho with a return to Spain this morning, he is happy to stay at Old Trafford and wants to stay beyond the terms of his existing contract.
"My future is here. I have a contract until the final day and I would like to stay after my contract runs out as well. I only think about Manchester United."
Mourinho ends with an answer on Juventus, hailing the depth of quality within the squad and claiming that they are a contender for this season's Champions League.
The United manager became quite frustrated there, believing too many questions focused on individuals rather than the game and that Spanish journalists in attendance only wished to ask about Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo.
On Pogba, how has he improved since his Juventus days...
I don't like this press conference. I don't want to speak about Pogba, about individuals...
I feel the press conference is going in another direction and I want to go in another direction.
Mourinho changes the subject to Marco Ianni, the Chelsea coach that celebrated in front of him
I'm not happy that he's going too far with young boy. He does not deserve more than what he got. He apologised to me, he deserves a second chance, he doesn't deserve to be sacked. He went through a situation where he recognises he was wrong. I hope everybody does the same as I did and do not disturb the career of a great guy. I'm not happy at all with more than that. End of story the moment he apologised to me. I don't want to boy to go through more than that. I made lots of mistakes.
On the draw at Chelsea...
Everyone was happy with the collective performance but not the result. There were contradictory feelings. What I told the players was to get the best out of these feelings. One side keep the happiness, the pride and confidence in the way we play, and use that anger if you want to call it that, to motivate yourself to play a big match.
Valencia left out of last two squads. Is there a chance he's back in tomorrow? Why did you leave him out?
The reason was he was 10 days out of training with a problem - not an injury, but he had a very complicated surgery on his mouth. He had 10 days without training and needed time to recover after that.
How much pressure are you facing?
United's form was shown in the past two matches. The way we want to play, the way we can play was shown in the past two matches. Let's try to do it again.
On Ronaldo, how do you rate him? Where does he stand in world football?
I thought Cristiano is on a level where he does not need these questions adn these answers. He is one of the best players of all time. Nobody can tell different than that. He is one of the best of all time. It is as simple as that.
There are reports linking you with Real Madrid today. Do you want to return to Madrid?
No I'm happy here. I'm happy to see out my contract. I would like to stay after my contract at Manchester United.
Is Alexis Sanchez fit? He did not train.
The player you saw are the players available. Nothing to hide. Alexis is out.
First up though, Jose Mourinho...
The Manchester United manager is with us now.
Lukaku is an interesting choice, to say the least.
During the recent international break, the Belgian was quoted praising the Juventus project and saying he 'hoped' to move to the Serie A club one day.
Was something lost in translation? Lukaku now has the chance to clarify those comments.
We're in place at Old Trafford in the Champions' Club suite.
Jose Mourinho will be taking questions from journalists from 2.00pm, unless Romelu Lukaku beats him to it.
The Belgian - who has not scored in his last seven matches at club level - is the player that will face the media today.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Jose Mourinho's press conference, with the Manchester United manager due to speak to the media this afternoon ahead of the Champions League clash with Juventus tomorrow night.
We're just two days gone from his fiery return to Stamford Bridge in the form of the 2-2 draw with Chelsea and there's plenty to discuss, including the threat of a Premier League charge hanging over his head as he awaits his fate for his gesture towards a television camera following the win over Newcastle.
Mourinho is also at risk of further action over the clash that marred the final seconds of Saturday's encounter with Chelsea, although it's fair to say that the Portuguese was antagonised into reacting by one of the Chelsea coaches.
With Mourinho due to start talking at 2pm BST, we'll kick off our coverage ahead of his arrival as we look towards tomorrow's Champions League clash.
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