Raphael Varane’s past comments have not aged well after Manchester United were beaten by Galatasaray in the Champions League.
On Tuesday night, United made mistake after mistake as they fell to a shock 3-2 defeat against Turkish side Galatasaray.
Casemiro was sent off after Andre Onana’s dreadful pass was intercepted by Dries Mertens and United’s defensive line was also heavily criticised for Mauro Icardi’s winning goal in the 81st minute.
On the back of the defeat, Varane’s comments from Monday have resurfaced.
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Speaking during the pre-match press conference, Varane was asked if United can win the Champions League this season.
The Frenchman said: “Yes, I think so, I think the quality is in the squad. The competition is difficult, you have to take care of every detail, but we have a team of quality and of good mentality.
“We have to make some improvements, it was not the start to the season we expected, but I still believe we have the quality to compete with the best teams in the world. I think the competition is about details and you have to be efficient to win the competition.”
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Varane added: “[The Champions League] is about details and you have to be efficient to win the competition. In the last moments, we need more efficiency.
“It is a low number of occasions we concede goals and we need to create a lot to score. That is the reality of the top level. You need to be efficient to win trophies. We have the quality in the squad to win competitions. We have to move forward and improve.”
However, judging by United’s performance against Galatasaray, they are a long way off from being able to challenge the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, who are the early favourites to go all the way in the competition.
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Topics: Manchester United, Galatasaray, Raphael Varane, Football, Champions League