Jose Mourinho seems to be very disgruntled at the way in which fans reacted to Romelu Lukaku’s performance on Saturday.

Red’s fans booed as Marcus Rashford was substituted during the game against Spurs, which in Mourinho’s eyes was a sly dig at from supporters who thought he should have substituted Lukaku instead.

Mourinho spoke out after the game and said he was ‘disappointed’ by the reaction from fans towards Lukaku, saying the Belgian is almost untouchable and has been brilliant despite not scoring in his last 5 games.

“The fans are the fans. The fans pay their ticket and they are free to express themselves the way they want,” he said after the Spurs victory.

“My job, when I feel they deserve, is to protect my players and I think Romelu is one of the players that should be untouchable in terms of the respect from everyone.

“It is not one ball that hit the post or one save by the opposition goalkeeper that can make Romelu’s contribution below the top level. He’s playing extremely well for us and yes I have to protect my players when I feel the players deserve it.

“Romelu always deserves it because what he does for the team is fantastic and playing football for a striker is not just about scoring goals. For me, untouchable in my team and he should also be untouchable in the respect he deserves from the fans.

“I repeat, the fans are the fans, they pay their ticket, they do what they want, but as a manager, I feel the need to protect to my players when I feel they deserve it.”

But ahead of United’s Champions League clash with Benfica, the Portuguese was not done with his comments about some fans’ reactions.

In his programme notes ahead of the Benfica game, Mourinho gave one further swipe at fans.

“I hope that you enjoy the game more than some of you did against Tottenham”, Mourinho wrote as he signed off his programme notes in the United Review. [Via Daily Mail]