The Reds will host the eighth-placed Ligue 1 club at Old Trafford in the first leg on Thursday 16 February before travelling to France for the second leg on Wednesday 22 February.
Thankfully, the flight across the Channel will be much shorter than those completed for two of United's Group A games against Fenerbahçe in Istanbul, Turkey, and Zorya Luhansk in Odessa, Ukraine.
During an interview with MUTV at the Aon Training Complex, Mourinho gave his reaction to the draw: “It is a short flight [that] is the only thing is that is really good because we’ve had Ukraine and Istanbul, and February is a busy period with lots of matches,” the boss told us. “So it’s good for us that it is a short flight.
“It’s a French club and they have quality. It’s a historical club; despite many years without titles, it’s a big club with big tradition. It’s the club where Michel Platini, before he went to Italy, did amazingly well in an amazing team that was dominant in France in that period, so it’s a historical club. And the extra curiosity of a beautiful thing which is two brothers playing against each other.”
Indeed, the matches with Saint-Etienne will also pit Paul Pogba against his brother Florentin, a defender who has scored one goal in 13 appearances this season. Mourinho joked that he can ask his summer signing for advice on dealing with his sibling across the two-legged European tie.
“He knows his brother better than anyone, so obviously, in terms of the individual analysis, I think he can give us the best opinion about his brother,” the boss said. “But we have to follow the same route, the same process. The analysts who are working for us are doing an extremely good job.”
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