Beware the underdog

Patrice Evra insists United must ignore their status as favourites going into Wednesday night’s tricky Champions League clash with Lyon.

The reigning Ligue 1 champions have been in mixed form of late, but Evra insists they will thrive on their underdog status, just as he did as part of the Monaco side which shocked Europe by reaching the 2004 final.

“It’s a bit like Monaco’s situation against Real Madrid, when everybody was tipping them to win,” he told the pre-match press conference.

“That seriously annoyed us and we ended up beating them, so it just goes to show that you need total respect for your opponents or you could get a nasty surprise."

United are on a high after beating title rivals Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday. By comparison, Lyon continued their inconsistent form since the turn of the year with a 1-0 defeat to Le Mans at the weekend. But Evra won't be paying too much attention to domestic results.

“Just because we put a beautiful performance in against Arsenal last weekend doesn’t mean that it’s going to be the same against Lyon," he added. "They have won their championship for the last six years on the run, they’re in the last 16 so clearly they’re a major team.

“We must show them serious respect. We don’t want to fall into the trap of not respecting them and end up struggling to qualify. But, at such a big club like United, with Sir Alex at the helm, it’s very difficult to actually lose concentration.”