Raphael Varane will have added incentive following his last visit to the Etihad

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Raphael Varane missed Manchester United’s chastening defeats to rivals Liverpool and Manchester City earlier in the season.

The World Cup winner’s last appearance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in the 2-2 draw at Atalanta where he came off with a hamstring injury.

Nineteen days after the draw in Bergamo and the Norwegian was relieved of his duties following the embarrassing 4-1 hammering to Watford.

But after missing some of the biggest games of United’s season in the first round of league fixtures, Varane will be out to exercise some former demons of his own when the Reds travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Nicknamed as ‘Champions League Varane’ by his club and international teammate Paul Pogba, Varane was anything but that on 7 August 2020.

On that day, Real Madrid travelled to City trailing Pep Guardiola’s side 2-1 in the Champions League last-16 tie.

In the eighth minute, Varane was caught dawdling in possession by Gabriel Jesus who then squared to Raheem Sterling who gave the Citizens an early lead.

The French international looked crest fallen and with no Sergio Ramos next to him, Varane struggled to shrug off his huge error.

Karim Benzema had brought Los Blancos level on the night which meant they trailed City 3-2 on aggregate.

But in the 68th minute, Varane took centre stage for all the wrong reasons once again.

Following a long ball forward from Rodri, the 28-year-old made a hash of attempting to clear the ball and his header back to Thibaut Courtois was undercut and Jesus got there ahead of the Belgian and effectively put the tie beyond Zinedine Zidane side’s reach.

It was a horror night for the four-time Champions League winner and he will be itching to redeem himself with a commanding and dominant display come Sunday, on his return to the Etihad.

Varane’s additional incentive and motivation could benefit United who will no doubt be required to do some last ditch defending.

It’s testament to Varane’s remarkable consistency over the years that such difficult nights at the office have been few and far between.

But the Red Devils need their number 19 to lead by example in his first experience of the Manchester derby.