Mourinho and his team only arrived at Old Trafford 43 minutes before the scheduled kick-off

Greater Manchester police have disputed José Mourinho’s claim that they were to blame for Manchester United’s late arrival for last night’s Champions League, for which the club face the possibility of Uefa disciplinary action.

United’s team bus arrived at Old Trafford just 43 minutes before the scheduled 8pm kick-off after being held up in traffic on the three-mile journey from their city-centre hotel. After Uefa, European football’s governing body, agreed to delay the kick-off until 8.05pm to allow United’s players a little extra time to warm up, Mourinho claimed that the problem arose because GMP unexpectedly “refused” to lay on an escort to help them beat the traffic.

That version of events was disputed this morning by GMP, who said that this service is no