Manchester United vs. Southampton: Jose Mourinho's EFL Cup Final Presser Quotes

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has described their UEFA Europa League draw with FC Rostov as bad "in every aspect," and he lent his support to Claudio Ranieri after the Italian was sacked as Leicester City boss on Thursday.

He believes the Foxes players showed "typical selfishness" and were "thinking about more money" rather than the job at hand.

Mourinho spoke ahead of their EFL Cup final with Southampton on Sunday, shortly after UEFA held the draw for the Europa League last 16.

Per Metro's Chris Winterburn, he is unhappy with facing the Russian side:

The fixtures will be played away on Thursday, March 9, and then at home on Thursday, March 16, either side of a Monday night match at Chelsea in the FA Cup.

However, while the travelling is far from ideal for the Red Devils, they managed to avoid the likes of Lyon, Roma, Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach—with the former pair facing each other and the latter pair meeting in an all-German affair.

As such, if United can come through the Rostov test, then two of their biggest rivals for the trophy will be out before the quarter-finals.

The Special One also paid tribute to Ranieri, who guided the Foxes to their incredible title win last year, per The Times' Paul Hirst:

Mourinho believes the scale of the Italian's achievement last season and subsequent failure to live up to expectations this year have cost him his position at the King Power Stadium:

Per the Mirror's Alex Richards, he added: "Probably the season started with the typical selfishness of others, people thinking about new contracts, people thinking about leaving, people thinking about more money, people forgetting what helped them reach a certain level."

Looking ahead to Sunday's EFL Cup final, Mourinho expressed his desire to win the match at Wembley Stadium against the Saints, per United's official Twitter feed:

The manager delivered both good and bad news regarding his team's fitness:

United will benefit from the composure and control Michael Carrick exudes in midfield, but further forward, they'll miss Henrikh Mkhitaryan's pace, flair and creativity.

In the playmaker's place, Wayne Rooney could be set to feature, as Mourinho also confirmed he would be involved.

Much of the buildup to the match has focused on the United captain's future at the club amid links to the Chinese Super League, but he has announced he will stay at the club at least until the summer, per BBC Sport.

With Mkhitaryan out, the onus could now be on him, Juan Mata and Anthony Martial—not to mention Zlatan Ibrahimovic—to fire them to victory.