Greater Manchester Police have released a statement explaining their decision not to deploy an escort for the Manchester United team bus prior to Tuesday night's goalless draw with Valencia.

United manager Jose Mourinho claimed the police had "refused" to use an escort, which then caused the team bus to get stuck in traffic and arrive late at Old Trafford. The match was pushed back by five minutes to accommodate the hosts.

However, the police have said they decided against using an escort due to the lack of any perceivable threat to the team bus.

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."