Don’t Mess with me!
PATRICE EVRA has a message for Barcelona’s golden boy: Don’t
Messi with me because I’m the top man.
The Manchester United left-back has the most daunting job of all in the
Champions League final next Wednesday.
He is the man charged with keeping Barca superstar Lionel Messi quiet.
But if confidence counts for anything, he can look forward to silencing the
Argie forward for the second successive season.
The French stopper is convinced he can stand alongside any of the world’s
great defenders — and feels he proved the point with a rare BAD game in the Carling Cup final back in March.
Evra had a shocker against Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon and immediately
the knives were out.
But the man himself felt if one bad game stood out so much, it merely proved
how well he had done in all the others.
Evra, 28, insisted: “I’ve played for United for three years
and had one bad game, so I was actually happy with the criticism because it
made me believe I’m the best left-back in the world.
“When you’ve had one bad performance and people are
criticising you, it makes you proud. I said after that ‘OK, we will
see’.
“It wasn’t a good day in the final but I just played one
bad game, that’s all.
“But after that I think I showed my real form again and you can see
that now.
“Every year I think I have improved. I have been honoured to be
named in the World’s Best XI twice, the Premier League XI twice —
and things like that make you believe. But it’s not easy.
“You can be the best left-back in the world but if you play badly in
the final, people will say you’re the worst.
“And of course I am playing against Messi, so it won’t be
easy.
“But I won’t prepare any differently against him, because
every day in training I am up against people like Rooney, Berbatov, Ronaldo
and Tevez, so you know what to do against big players.
“The only thing is, against Messi you can stop him 10 times but if
he passes you once and scores, people say ‘Evra played a poor game’.
“I don’t know if he’s better this year but he’s
scored more goals and has probably been more important for Barcelona.
“I respect him but must make sure he doesn’t play well
again.”
Evra snuffed out the threat of Messi in both legs of the semi-final 12 months
ago en route to United’s Moscow triumph.
Yet it has not all been plain sailing for the man who cost £5.5million
from Monaco — where he also tasted Champions League glory —
three years ago.
In December he landed a four-game ban for his part in last season’s
post-match bust-up with the Stamford Bridge ground staff.
And after setting up United’s second in a 3-0 romp on his return,
ironically against Chelsea, he suffered a hamstring strain which kept him
out for another month.
Even now, the mere mention of it sees the usual smile replaced by a tightening
of the lips.
Evra insisted: “If you ask me about it for the next 10 years I’d
still say I don’t accept it. I didn’t touch anyone but got
a four-game ban and it still hurts now.
“I touched no one, you can see that on any video in the world.
“I was relaxed after meeting the FA and when the boss told me ‘Pat,
it’s four games’, I couldn’t believe it.
“My team-mates did a good job at a busy time with lots of games.
“I was banned for a month, came back and set up the second goal
against Chelsea — and then got injured.
“Two months out was very, very difficult. For me it was an
injustice. OK, now it’s finished but it is still in my heart, I
still have pain about it.
“I remember every day in the gym thinking of coming back against
Chelsea. I was angry before the game and although I played well, that ban
killed me.”
Surely, then, after silencing the critics in the same way he silenced Messi
last year, another European triumph would be the highlight of his career.
Don’t you believe it. That came more than a decade ago when Evra
chanced his arm in the nether reaches of Italy after failing to make a mark
in France.
He said: “I had a year at Marsala in Serie C and then another at
Monza before I went back to France and I have great memories of Italy.
“They opened the door to my career and when I’m asked what
is my best moment, I don’t say the Champions League final or things
like that, I say it was in Italy.
“I was 17 and they were great to me. I remember when I got my first
tracksuit, looking at it in the mirror and feeling so proud.”
