Ref saved Man United season with Herrera sending off – Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has said referee Michael Oliver saved Manchester United’s season from “total disaster” with his red card for Ander Herrera in the FA Cup quarterfinal defeat at Chelsea in March.

United, now unable to claim Champions League qualification via a top-four Premier League finish, will play their 62nd game of the season at Southampton on Wednesday.

Having had the Manchester derby against City rescheduled to last month due to their run to the EFL Cup final, United would have faced further fixture upheaval had they progressed to the last four of the FA Cup.

And with his squad suffering the strain of injury and fatigue ahead of next week’s Europa League final against Ajax in Stockholm, Mourinho said a “crazy” season would have become impossible had United beaten Chelsea.

“You know that, in all of my career, I was never out of European competitions in the group phases, and in the last 16 I was out only once,” he said. “So I reached the semifinals 10 times and I go always until the end of competitions.

“In the League Cup I normally go far. In the domestic competitions cups I normally have a lot of matches.

“But like this, I never have. This situation of you play a final and the game that you should play that day is going to be postponed until the last week, for the last week.

“This is crazy. And I repeat the same — thank you Michael Oliver [for sending off Herrera] because we were out in the FA Cup.

“If we had gone to the FA Cup semifinals it would be a total disaster. I don’t know when we would be playing that game.”

Mourinho said the number of games played and injuries suffered by his players this season was unprecedented in his time as a manager.

“I never, ever have had a situation like this and, on top of that the accumulation of big injuries, not small, not the injuries that you say: ‘OK, hamstring, two weeks.’

“No. It’s surgery — one knee, another knee. Another foot. Just big surgeries.

“So fewer players and fewer players and fewer players. It’s very difficult, really very difficult. But we are there and we go to the final.”