Raphaël Varane: “You have to play with discipline, calmly and with faith”
BARCELONA, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Manchester United coach, Erik ten Hag, assured this Wednesday in the first leg of the Europa League playoff return against FC Barcelona, ??that they will have to play “the best game of the season” at Old Trafford to make the game good 2-2 in the first leg at the Camp Nou and be able to go to the next round.
“If we want to win, we will have to give our best. I think that against Barça we will have to play the best game of the season,” the Dutch coach said at a press conference.
In this sense, he assured that the team is “eager”. “We are very excited. Two great teams face each other at Old Trafford, with a spectacular atmosphere. We can expect two great teams giving their best, we are looking forward to it,” he reiterated.
“I don’t know what Xavi will do, but Gavi and Pedri are great players and even though they are very young they contribute to the good game of Barça. But they have a lot of depth in the squad. Tomorrow there will be a great team at Barça”, he pointed out about the outstanding players casualties of the two midfielders, which are added to that of Ousmane Dembélé.
Despite the fact that Manchester United is improving in game and results, and that on Sunday they play the EFL Cup final against Newcastle, Ten Hag assured that football is not about “merits”, but about “titles”. “We focus on the next game because there are no titles at stake yet,” he declared, focused solely on Barça.
“Every day we want to give the best version, if you face one of the best teams like Barça you have to give your all to go through. We are looking forward to it and we believe we can go through”, he predicted optimistically, as long as his players follow his plan game.
The coach commented that except for surprise, he will be able to count on the recovered Harry Maguire and Antony dos Santos, although Anthony Marcial will not be available despite the fact that he is also close to recovery.
On the other hand, he commented on his recent dinner with Sir Alex Ferguson, an institution in the ‘red devil’ club. “I always love talking and I enjoy people who have a lot of experience and want to share it. He’s committed to United, it’s his club, I loved talking to him and it was a great night,” he acknowledged.
For his part, the French center-back Raphaël Varane assured that they will have to play a great game to eliminate FC Barcelona this Thursday. “I think we played a great game in Barcelona, ??it was a great show. We showed character. We know we have to play with discipline, calmly and with faith. If we do that, we can have options”, he valued.
“They are important casualties for them but Barça has a very large squad, it will be a high-level game and we will have to be prepared to compete. The philosophy and style of play will be the same, with player changes. We have to be prepared to play well, better than in the gone to happen”, commented, doing reference to the casualties of the Barça.
And, about United’s improvement compared to last year, he opined that the group has “more confidence and discipline.” “Tactically we are following the rules, we know how we want to play and dominate the game. There is quality in the squad, if we have a little more experience and a winning sports mentality, we can improve a bit and that is perhaps the difference between this season and the previous one” , he stated.
