Ole Gunnar Solskjær has admitted comments he made about Roma may have sounded disrespectful to Manchester United’s Europa League semi-final opponents, but said that was never his intention.
United host
Roma in Thursday’s opening leg hoping to reach a first final in five attempts under Solskjær.
The manager was asked about the Italian club after knocking out Granada in the previous round and is believed by
Roma fans to have said: “I don’t know them and I haven’t seen them play.”
Roma supporters have
placed a poster featuring those words and Solskjær’s image at their club’s training ground, together with the message: “Make sure he remembers us.”
Solskjær said on Wednesday of his remarks:
“That was straight after the game and with all the games we’ve had I was just relieved we’d gone through. I’d watched them but hadn’t analysed and hadn’t seen them in depth to give them enough respect, probably. It’s a fantastic club with a great history.