United need Raphael Varane to dominate vs Atletico upon Madrid return

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Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t the only Manchester United player who will be rekindling their rivalry with Atletico Madrid, Raphael Varane will also be returning to Madrid.

The four-time Champions League winner will be facing Diego Simeone’s side for the first time since leaving Real Madrid to join the Reds in the summer.

Similar to Ronaldo, the World Cup winner has faced Simeone’s men more than any other side during his career.

United’s number 19 has faced the reigning La Liga champions on 25 occasions. The French international has a mixed record against Los Rojiblancos, he has won 10, drawn eight and lost seven times.

The Madrid derby is always a highly-charged and hostile game which always threatens to spill over due to both teams’ sheer desire to earn the bragging rights.

Playing alongside the aggressive Sergio Ramos, Varane was more of a calming presence within the Madrid backline.

As Atletico grew in prominence and stature under Simeone, the Madrid derby was usually contested on the biggest stage with the biggest trophies on the line.

Although Atletico haven’t previously been able to get past their great rivals in the Champions League.

With Ralf Rangnick’s side set to face Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano tomorrow night, the Red Devils are going to need Ronaldo and Varane to lead by example.

After being withdrawn from the starting line-up in the win against Brighton due to stomach problems, Varane had to settle for a place on the bench in Sunday’s 4-2 win against Leeds.

The 28-year-old came on for the closing stages, but it would be a surprise to see him not return to starting line-up for the last-16 first leg.

The French international will be able to lean on his previous extensive experience against our opponents and how to deal with the electric atmosphere.

Simeone will be hoping the crowd and occasion unnerves United, but having Varane at the heart of our backline will give the rest of his teammates confidence and reassurance.

Varane has missed a lot of big matches this season due to injury, but we need our £34m (BBC Sport) world class centre-back to produce a dominant and commanding performance in our biggest match of the campaign to date.