José Mourinho has expressed surprise at the events that led to Gareth Bale declaring himself unavailable for Tottenham’s FA Cup tie at Everton. The manager said Bale had asked for a scan on an injury and had been left out of the squad for the 5-4 extra-time defeat at Goodison Park after saying he was not feeling comfortable.
“I think it is better for me to say: we played against West Brom on the Sunday and he didn’t play, he was on the bench,” Mourinho said. “Monday I was a bit surprised by him wanting to have a scan because he was not feeling comfortable.
“He didn’t train on Monday, then on the Tuesday he trained with the team but I was informed his desire would be to work with the sports science for a couple of days to strengthen that area where he was not feeling comfortable.
“That is the reason why he is not here. I don’t think it is an obvious injury, I would say he feels uncomfortable and because of that training session he couldn’t be 100%.”
Everton’s reward for their thrilling 5-4 victory over Spurs is a FA Cup quarter-final tie against the Premier League leaders Manchester City.
City, six-times winners who last lifted the FA Cup in 2019, will travel to Goodison Park on the weekend of 20-21 March with Pep Guardiola’s side still hoping to complete the quadruple. As well as their FA Cup exploits, City are top of the league by five points, into the knockout stages of the Champions League and face Tottenham in the April’s Carabao Cup final.
Manchester United, who beat West Ham 1-0 in the fifth round, visit Leicester City, having drawn 2-2 in the Premier League in that fixture back in December. Leicester, four-times losing finalists, have never won the FA Cup.
Chelsea, victors over Barnsley last night, face Sheffield United, with the Blades aiming to use a cup run to reignite their league form. Chelsea were beaten finalists by Arsenal last year and only the Gunners (14) and Manchester United (12) have won the FA Cup on more occasions than the Blues.
Southampton, who beat Wolves last night, face a trip to neighbours Bournemouth.
Quarter-final draw in full
Everton v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Southampton
Leicester City v Manchester United
Chelsea v Sheffield United
Ties to be played the weekend of 20-21 March
Asked whether he felt the Wales international, who has been restricted to 15 appearances this season on loan from Real Madrid, needed to play through the niggles Mourinho said: “Gareth was not here. I wanted to make it very clear the situation, which I am being completely open and honest about.”
