Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho shows some uncharacteristic humility as he faces CSKA Moscow again

The Red Devils have a poor record in Russia

United will be the fourth club Mourinho has faced CSKA Moscow with (Getty)

For a man who once declared: “At Porto there was God and after God there was me.” Jose Mourinho is not a man who generally does humility.

And yet here he was in late September, unbeaten in the league, knowing that a win against CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night would put Manchester United on course for the Champions League knockout rounds with something to spare, talking of the need for patience and humility.

“The way to keep this line of success is to do what we have been doing,” he said. “If the opponents have superiority, we have to be humble, like we were at Southampton. When I was looking at that game again on television, there was a moment in that match that could have transformed the game completely.

“We were winning 1-0 and we were winning easily but in the second half we had to be humble and we had to accept we had to fight hard. Yes, we need to go into matches thinking we can dominate but we also have to accept the reality of high-level football and be humble when the opponent is on top.”

The moment in Saturday’s hard-fought victory at St Mary’s Mourinho was referring to was the injury to Marouane Fellaini caused by a challenge from Southampton’s Shane Long that the Manchester United manager thought reckless.

“Fellaini was lucky, it could have been a much worse situation,” said Mourinho. “I don’t have Paul Pogba and I don’t have Michael Carrick. I don’t expect him (Fellaini) to be out for a long time, we have the international break after Saturday’s game with Crystal Palace so I hope he can be back with us soon.” Mourinho did not, however, round on the referee, saying that he had been watching on television, a luxury Craig Pawson did not have.

This was perhaps an example of Mourinho being humble to the man who had sent him to the stands at Southampton. There will be no further action taken against the Manchester United manager which, Mourinho reflected, suggested there were ‘no reasons’ for the dismissal.

Fellaini was injured in Manchester United's win over Southampton this weekend (Getty)

The loss of Fellaini compounds the weakness in a Manchester United midfield already without the injured Paul Pogba and Michael Carrick. That Fellaini is considered so central to United would bring a wry smile to David Moyes’s lips.

When the Belgian arrived at Old Trafford four years ago it was at the fag-end of a summer transfer window in which Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor had failed to bring in anyone to join the champions of England except the big, lumbering midfielder who had worked with him at Everton. Moyes may have failed in the managerial dug-out but his two signings – Juan Mata was the other – have proved impeccable.

When Manchester United were last in Russia, it was to play out a 1-1 draw with Rostov on a dreadful, rutted pitch. The surface in CSKA Moscow’s stadium will be rather better but while they may have won the European Cup in the Russian capital, Manchester United’s record against Russian teams in their own country is utterly unimpressive.

The sum total of away games against Torpedo Moscow, CSKA Moscow (twice), Rotor Volgograd and Rostov, spread over a quarter of a century is a 1-0 win, two defeats (one in a penalty shoot-out) and two draws.

CSKA may have seen their great rivals, Spartak Moscow, win the Russian Premier League, but they have started the new season rather better and were good enough to overcome Benfica in Lisbon’s Stadium of Light in the opening round of Champions League fixtures. A draw may not be such a bad result.

“I have faced CSKA Moscow with Real Madrid, with Inter, with Chelsea and now with Manchester United,” Mourinho reflected. “It is normal in my Champions League career. Moscow is a beautiful city and every time I come here it looks better and better and I have to say that this is the best CSKA team I have faced.” It is probably true but this was another example of Jose Mourinho being ever so humble.