Disciplinary matters were on Patrice Evra’s mind in the wake of
United’s Champions League semi-final victory over Arsenal.
While declaring his relief at being eligible to play in the
final himself, the Reds left-back was quick to console Darren
Fletcher who’s set to miss out after being sent off.
“The bad news of the night is Fletcher will miss the final and I
feel so frustrated for him,” said Evra, who had been one booking
away from missing out on the Rome showpiece.
“The (possibility of a) yellow card was on my mind in the week
leading up to the game, in the hotel before the match and during
it. I thought about it a lot because I always believed we would
reach the final and I wanted to be there.
“I, therefore, played with a lot of pain in my stomach [in the
second leg] and I said to the boss that if we scored a third goal I
wanted to come off, I just couldn’t face the thought of missing the
final.
“Of course, the most important thing was to help the team get
there and I just tried to make sure I did my job well in order to
do that. Maybe it was destiny that I should play in the final, but
I knew the most important thing was to make sure we were
there.”
Evra was one of three players who would have missed the final
had they been booked at the Emirates Stadium; Wayne Rooney also
avoided a caution before he was substituted, while Carlos Tevez
remained on the bench throughout the match.