Evra: Man. United Never Die

In the aftermath of United’s Champions League final defeat to Barcelona, Patrice Evra gave an honest and heartfelt interview to MUTV’s Stewart Gardner, explaining why the Reds will bounce back in Europe next season.

Patrice, what's your view of the game?
"Sometimes you have to be honest and say the best team won. I think we have to give credit to Barcelona. Even though I play for Manchester United and I always want to play for the best team in the world, I think Barcelona were the best team on Saturday night."

What was the game plan?
"We pressed really high up the pitch and tried to take the ball but it was very difficult. Barcelona kept the ball very well. After the goal when Wazza scored, I thought ‘come on, keep going and we will score against Barcelona again’, but in the second half they scored a second and third goal which killed the game."

What makes Barcelona so difficult to play against?
"We know each other, but they know each other so well and so perfectly. Every time Messi gets the ball he knows Xavi is going to be there, Pedro is going to be there, or Iniesta. It is amazing. It looks like they have a plan. They make a route to score a goal. You have to give a lot of credit to Barcelona and their manager."

Can you take consolation from this season? You won the league title and reached the Champions League final after all...
"The consolation is that Manchester United had a good season. Not a great season because we didn’t win on Saturday night, but a good season. It was not easy but we played with the Manchester United spirit a lot. We deserved better, but we played against the best side in the world and it was difficult. I know what we have to do. Go on holiday, have a rest and come back because Manchester United never die. We always want to be the best team in the world, but for the moment, we have to accept that for the last three years Barcelona have been the best team in the world and United are second."

But you’ll be determined to come back again after a few weeks off?
"Of course. I want to come back to the final and play against Barcelona. We are not afraid. We just have to give them credit tonight and say they are better than us. But we will keep going. We have still won the league and we are going to win the league again next year, and make sure we win the Champions League as well."