Mourinho asks players to be like Federer ahead of Swiss game

Manchester’s head coach Jose Mourinho walks on the pitch during a training session a day prior to the Champions League group stage group H soccer match between BSC Young Boys Bern and Manchester United, at the Stade de Suisse in Bern, Switzerland, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. (Peter Klaunzer/Keystone via AP)

BERN, Switzerland — Jose Mourinho wants his Manchester United players to think like Roger Federer and adapt to different playing surfaces for their Champions League opener on artificial turf in Switzerland.

Playing against Young Boys on Wednesday in Federer’s home country, Mourinho does not want to make excuses for a field he does not like.

The United coach says the “big man (Federer) … has also to win on the surfaces that he is not in love with, so we have to do it.”

Mourinho’s captain Antonio Valencia has not traveled to Bern for the Group H game at Stade de Suisse to protect his knees.

Young Boys makes its Champions League group-stage debut after ending a 32-year wait for a Swiss league title.