Jose Mourinho happy with Saint-Etienne tie in Europa League

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said that the main benefit of playing Saint-Etienne in the last 32 of the Europa League is the short distance between the teams.

During the group stages United made trips to both Turkey and Ukraine, but they were paired with French opposition when the draw for the second round was made on Monday.

The 53-year-old told reporters: "The good thing is travel. We had to go very far in the group phase. France is an easy flight, easy period. That is good.

"Saint-Etienne have lots of tradition. People of my generation never forget the Platini team. Man Utd is one of the big names in competition. It will be hard but we have two months to forget it."

Saint-Etienne currently sit in eighth place in Ligue 1, but they came through their six group games in Europe without suffering defeat.