Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford spared Manchester United of embarrassment on Tuesday night against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.Despite Jose Mourinho fielding a strong starting XI and United pretty much being guaranteed top spot in their group, they found themselves 1-0 down with an hour played.CSKA's goal was certainly controversial, but FIFA rules confirmed the referee was right to allow it, much to the frustration of United's players.But come the 66th minute, the Red Devils were 2-1 ahead and eventually cruised to victory number five in the group stages.They march on through to the last 16 knowing they've given themselves their best possible chance of an 'easy' draw - if that's even possible in the Champions League.Mourinho will know his players must be better when the round of 16 begins in February given Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus are all potential opponents.He hasn't given them the utmost confidence boost, though, following his strange comments in a post-match interview on Norwegian TV.In the video below, Mourinho dropped a harsh truth bomb on United's players by saying they are NOT candidates for the Champions League right now.Mourinho believes they are far from challenging for the title due to the strength around them. Way to be positive, Jose.

MOURINHO: WE'RE NOT CANDIDATES

Asked if they can win the competition, he said: "Well, when you asked me that question we had 32 teams and now we have just 16. After the knockouts, we'll be just eight. Let's see.

"We're not candidates, far from it. There are teams [that are] very powerful; there are teams with great experience at this level.

"Let's see how it goes, but now we have lots of matches in English competitions and can forget about the Champions League for a couple of months."

Mourinho will claim he's just being realistic, but as United's manager he ought to be more optimistic about their chances.

Sure, they potentially face a nightmare draw in the last 16, but the beauty of the Champions League is that anything can happen.