Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag says he left Raphael Varane out of the starting XI for the derby against Manchester City for tacitcal reasons.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Varane named on bench for City matchLindelof, Evans & Maguire startedTen Hag said decision down to 'tactics'WHAT HAPPENED?
Centre-back Varane was left on the bench for the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday, with Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire all getting the nod to start ahead of him.
AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Varane has started just one Premier League match since returning from injury in late September but has been trusted to start in the last two Champions League matches, including their midweek win against Copenhagen.
The Frenchman was, however, left out of the squad for the home win against Brentford at the start of October and came off the bench late on in last week's victory against Sheffield United.
WHAT THEY SAID
Asked why Varane was not named in the first-team for Sunday's match against their rivals, Ten Hag said: "Tactics".
When pressed further and asked if Evans and Lindelof's experience in the fixture was behind the decision, he replied: "Yeah but that’s not the argument to make the selection as I said it’s just tactics. That’s the answer."
Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
United's next game is against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.