MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER Alex Ferguson hopes the race row between Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez is now firmly in the past.
Liverpool forward Suarez received a £40,000 fine and an eight-match ban for racially abusing United’s French fullback Evra during a match in October 2011, and the Uruguay international snubbed a proposed handshake when the sides met four months later in February 2012.
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However, the two have since played against each other and did shake hands earlier this season at Anfield, giving Ferguson reason to be optimistic it will not be an issue again on Sunday.
Ferguson told reporters: “There will always be a certain build-up to a Manchester United and Liverpool games.
That’s simply because of the history between the two clubs, the two most successful in the country – it brings its own agenda in terms of profile and pre-match discussion.
Last year it was unfortunate with the Suarez behaviour. But I think hopefully it’s behind both clubs now and we can just look forward to the game.
Ferguson also spoke about a rollercoaster 2012, a year fraught with disappointments from a United perspective – particularly the final day of the season, when the club lost the Premier League title to neighbours Manchester City on goal difference.
“There were a lot of ups and downs. It was disappointing,” he said.
“Firstly, in European football we were knocked out the previous December and so we had to do without that.
“We were knocked out in the second game of the FA Cup – very unluckily – at Liverpool. We should have won that game. That left us with the league and then we lost that on the last day of the season on goal difference. So it was very, very frustrating.
Since then we’ve done what we said we’d do. We qualified from the group stage of the Champions League. I thought we were unlucky to be knocked out of the League Cup by Chelsea, with the last kick of the ball, after we’d played so well.
The league so far has gone well and we’re in a good position. We just now need to make sure we kick on, keep our concentration and keep playing our football the way we are.
Ferguson hopes Evra, Suarez spat is settled
MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER Alex Ferguson hopes the race row between Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez is now firmly in the past.
Liverpool forward Suarez received a £40,000 fine and an eight-match ban for racially abusing United’s French fullback Evra during a match in October 2011, and the Uruguay international snubbed a proposed handshake when the sides met four months later in February 2012.
However, the two have since played against each other and did shake hands earlier this season at Anfield, giving Ferguson reason to be optimistic it will not be an issue again on Sunday.
Ferguson told reporters: “There will always be a certain build-up to a Manchester United and Liverpool games.
Ferguson also spoke about a rollercoaster 2012, a year fraught with disappointments from a United perspective – particularly the final day of the season, when the club lost the Premier League title to neighbours Manchester City on goal difference.
“There were a lot of ups and downs. It was disappointing,” he said.
“Firstly, in European football we were knocked out the previous December and so we had to do without that.
“We were knocked out in the second game of the FA Cup – very unluckily – at Liverpool. We should have won that game. That left us with the league and then we lost that on the last day of the season on goal difference. So it was very, very frustrating.
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