Jose Mourinho offered a brutal response to Frank de Boer's criticism over his handling of Marcus Rashford, with the Manchester United boss tearing into the "worst manager in Premier League history".

Nobody at Monday's press conference previewing the crunch Champions League last-16 clash with Sevilla could have foreseen the Portuguese publicly eviscerating the former Crystal Palace manager.

De Boer was sacked by the Eagles in September after losing his first four Premier League matches without so much as mustering a goal, let alone a point.

That record was brought up as Mourinho went after the Dutchman, having been irked by the former Palace manager saying it was "pity" for Rashford to be playing under the United boss given his preference for short-term success over player development.

"I read something, some quote from the worst manager in the history of the Premier League," the United boss said.

"Frank de Boer - seven matches, seven defeats [sic], zero goals - where he was saying that it was not good for Marcus Rashford to have a coach like me because the most important thing for me is to win.

"If he was coached by Frank, he would learn how to lose because he lost every game."