Greater Manchester Police have explained their decision not to provide the Manchester United team bus with an escort to Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
Jose Mourinho blamed the police after United arrived late for their Champions League group game at home to Valencia, which forced kick-off to be delayed.
The Reds boss claimed that United were “refused” an escort by Greater Manchester Police, which led to their journey from the Lowry Hotel taking 45 minutes longer than usual.
A statement from GMP said: “All police deployments are carried out following a comprehensive risk assessment process and, specifically in respect of escort team buses, are only ever undertaken on occasions when there is intelligence or information to suggest a risk of threat or harm to the players.
“GMP has previously used police vehicles to accompany a team’s coach but after a review of our core policing responsibilities it was decided that we would no longer provide this service at every fixture.”
