Raphael Varane proved his point with and without the ball for Manchester United at Liverpool

It appears that the former defender for Real Madrid and France, who won four Champions Leagues and a World Cup, is capable of playing center back on the left side.

Varane salutes the United fans

Sometimes a person accepts an award on behalf of the group, as was the case with Raphael Varane when the Manchester United manager left Anfield.

Varane posted a photo of the man-of-the-match tube he was given to his Instagram Story, tagging Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Jonny Evans, and Luke Shaw.

Varane was the leader and singer in a rock-solid back five against Liverpool. Even though Scott McTominay was fortunate enough to wear the armband, Varane was actually United’s de facto captain.

Players pay attention to Varane’s speech. In the first half, he was the only one to guide his defensive teammates toward the halfway line, where the linesman flagged Mohamed Salah. Four times, United caught Liverpool offside.

Varane’s senior by five years, Evans was also a constant communicator. After an hour, Salah moved infield, acknowledging that Shaw had taken a toll on the devoted Dalot, who was defensively perfect.

The deserving winner of the individual award was Varane. His selection against Liverpool was preordained when he was substituted as United conceded defeat in their attempt to remain in Europe. He was guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup against Bayern Munich last week.

How confusing that Varane had only started one of his 13 games prior to Bayern’s defeat. Throughout his time at United, Erik ten Hag must have grown weary of the 30-year-old’s failures due to his inconsistent play.

This season, Varane has already missed games due to a sore back, illness, lack of sleep, and a muscular issue. He was worried he was being pushed out until last week. It would be foolish of United to let go of their best defender.

In the Anfield press room, Ten Hag stated of Varane, “We know what he is capable of.” “He has many such performances and I think he did very well as the whole team in the partnership with Jonny Evans.”

Varane and Evans began their game on the other side of where Ten Hag had indicated they felt most at ease. Varane lined up on the left against Bayern and Liverpool and did not make a mistake despite being paired against Harry Maguire for the right-sided center half position.

His deft, left-footed pass created a breakaway opportunity that should have seen Alejandro Garnacho find the goal. It has always seemed strange that Varane, who has lifted the European Cup four times and kissed the World Cup, is not skilled with his weaker foot.

The first line of You’ll Never Walk Alone is “When you walk through the storm,” and United had to withstand it during those tense opening minutes when the Kop was yelling for blood. Despite being such a calm person, Varane did not falter during goal kicks in the face of jeers, and he is most animated when facing fierce opponents.

With his Madridista loyalty still strong, Varane orchestrated the post-match celebrations at Old Trafford against Manchester City and Barcelona the previous season. Varane welcomed the halftime hoot with a bullish embrace from the local United supporters at Anfield.

One of the players, Varane, gave the order to teammates planning a swift getaway to cheer on those who stayed for the entirety of the 7-0 demolition in March. Despite having only been in Manchester for 2.5 years, Varane has developed an admirable bond with the supporters.

They supported the United defense on Sunday in both ways. In order to guarantee that United would have their away day opponents behind them and their backs to the wall for the second half, McTominay gave Liverpool the order to attack the Kop in the first forty-five minutes.

Anfield Road End supporters in the first tier cheered almost as loudly as Varane did when he stopped Cody Gakpo’s potshot attempt that was headed for goal. He was the first to become enraged with referee Michael Oliver for his ostentatious dismissal of Diogo Dalot.

Just four of United’s 12 losses this season have seen Varane start the game. Not a single United fan regretted Varane’s shortcomings after the team’s defeats to Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, or Bayern. In Copenhagen, he was an afterthought, as Evans’ injury signaled Varane’s arrival after fifteen minutes.

This season, Varane has not started at center half before Evans, Shaw, and Victor Lindelof. Despite Maguire’s remarkable comeback, United lost six of the 14 games in which he started and gave up 20 goals while the former captain was on the field.

Varane is still United’s best defender when he’s playing at his best, and he’s the only one with an aura. After the victory over Liverpool in the previous season, Lisandro Martinez posted on Varane’s Instagram with the words “Sos impresionate” – you are awesome – and a love-heart eyes emoji.

Varane’s display at Anfield reminded him of Nemanja Vidic, which was fitting for a center back who as a young man looked up to Rio Ferdinand.