[Dirtycheat]

Evra: United out to prove point in
Champions League

Originally Posted by Daily Mail

Patrice Evra has revealed Manchester United 'have a point to prove' in the Champions League this season.

United resume their campaign in the Ukraine against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday having already won their first two group matches and handily placed to seal a last 16 berth with time to spare.

And once their spot in the knockout stage is secured, the Red Devils can start to plan their revenge for last season's gut-wrenching semi-final exit.
Having beaten AC Milan at Old Trafford in the opening leg at Old Trafford, a tired and weary United side were hammered in the return meeting at the San Siro, allowing the Serie A giants to move on to the final, where they subsequently accounted for Liverpool.

"Losing against AC Milan last season was very frustrating," said Evra. "I don't like making excuses but we had players missing through injury and suspension and it affected us.

"This year we have even more quality, so our chances are good.
"Just because we have signed quality players it doesn't automatically mean we will do better. But I do feel as though we have a point to prove after last season's frustration."

No trip to Kiev can be taken lightly, but Sir Alex Ferguson has done his best to minimise the effects of the journey by ordering a Sunday flight for his team rather than setting off 24 hours before kick-off as usual.

With their own dietician and chef on board, nothing will be taken to chance.
And while a number of senior men, including Owen Hargreaves, Michael Carrick and Gary Neville, remain on the injured list, Ferguson will feel confident of picking up at least a draw, as he did on his only previous trip to Kiev with United seven years ago.

The only survivor from that night will be Ryan Giggs, who signed a one-year contract extension earlier this week.

Evra knows Giggs well having played on the same flank since his £5million arrival from Monaco in January 2006.

In fact, at times Evra has even occupied Giggs' usual left-wing slot as Ferguson tried to cope with a mass of early-season absentees, producing performances so effective some United supporters have branded the jovial Frenchman their club's best performer so far this term.

"If some fans are saying that then it is a nice compliment but really it is all about the team," he said.
"I always work for the team and just try to respect this great shirt, which means giving everything and trying to do well in each match.
"I am not aiming to be something special but I feel good this season.
"I want to do my best because I want to reach the same level as I did last year."
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i have a good feeling about us this season. I think nani and anderson have added a lot to our side and will make us better in Europe. We just need to avoid getting key players injured or suspended, we werent too lucky with that last year.

[GocartMozart]

see this injury thing, is a curious excuse. how about saying we got our asses whipped by a team that was just absolutely better, more mature and more experienced. In an away game, facing a loud crowd, on a misserable and rainy night, i think we were just a bit overwhelmed. I'd rather we face the truth an handle it that deluding ourselves that it was just injuries. maybe it is just me.

[Dirtycheat]

injuries wasnt an excuse, it was a reason but no one is saying it was the only reason. Yes Milan were experienced - but so are we. yes milan have some great players - but so do we. and its not like our fans dont make themselves heard or its the first time our side played in the rain against a loud crowd...

When it came down to it our defense couldn't handle them because when facing a side like milan, you really need as strong a defense as possible, not one with hienze as cb against someone as destructive as kaka. But this season we have much more depth than last season, so it shouldnt pose too much of a problem.

[GocartMozart]

so you are banking on pique doing the job on kaka? you're right that the defense wasn't up to snuff, but i'm not going to take anything away from that milan team. maybe the result would have been different if we had zero injuries and had a decent run ahead of time, but life is never that easy and it requires the fill-ins to do the business. heinze was more than qualified, but vidic coming right off of injury didn't help. the planets aligned for milan and that's the end of it. we didn't have enough mental strength and experience to keep ourselves from being destroyed by the eventual champions, and i'd rather point to my teams inadequecies than to call it flip of the coin that we didn't have the full team on hand. we had the players, we just executed poorly.

[Hoangzah]

With Inzaghi in some killer form and Gillardino finding his feet again, AC Milan are serious contenders for the CL again this year.