Varane fancies United’s chances: “We can win the Champions League”
The French centre-back is confident in Manchester United’s chances of finishing the season as European champions.
Neither the disciplinary problems nor the weekend defeat to Crystal Palace seem to have affected Raphaël Varane’s confidence. The French defender appeared at the press conference this afternoon to look ahead to Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Galatasaray at Old Trafford and explain what, from his point of view, Manchester United need to do to win the tournament.
You know what it to takes to win the Champions League, how far away do you think Manchester United are from that level?
I think as a competition, it’s about details. You have to be very efficient to win it. In recent weeks, we have shown that we must improve in that aspect, we need to be more efficient in front of goal. With a very low number of occasions, we are conceding and we need to create a lot to score... so that’s the reality at the top level. You have to be efficient to win big trophies. I think we have enough quality in the squad to play and win the competition, but we must improve and tomorrow is a great opportunity to get our first points in the competition, to move forward and to improve.
Do you think this Manchester United is good enough to win the Champions League?
Yes, I think so, I think the quality’s in the squad. As I said, it’s a difficult competition, you have to take care about every detail, but we have a team with quality and a good mentality. We have to make some improvements - it’s not the start of the campaign that we expected but I still believe that we can compete with the best teams in the world.
How do you see the role of young players at this start of the season, making up for the absences of several first team players?
I think they are doing well. They bring energy to the team. They are still learning, which is normal, and it is important that more experienced players lead by example and to communicate with them. We have a lot to do, and as leaders, we have to teach them and talk to them about how to be professional, how to play, handle the pressure, be calm and win games. That’s what we try to do. Hopefully they can bring talent and passion out on the pitch. That would be very helpful for this season. There is a lot of young talent at this club so hopefully, they can improve the squad.