SHARE

Manchester United midfielder Fred spoke to the Brazilian media following the Champions League win against İstanbul Başakşehir.

The Red Devils now have a Premier League clash with Southampton at the weekend, and then prepare to face Paris Saint Germain in the European competition.

Fred was asked about the challenge of facing the French side again, as despite the 2-1 win in Paris, they’re still the toughest opponent in the group.

“Man, we already know them. We know a lot about the players. I’ve played a lot with Neymar,” Fred told Esporte Interativo.

“So before the game we try to see a lot of videos of them. Whether they come out on the right or the left. If they put more speed or less speed in some moves. We have to be prepared for everything there in the game. We know that they can decide the game at any time. So we have to be on all the time.”

Embed from Getty Images

Fred was also quizzed about the importance of footballers using their voices to help social causes. Last Friday, it was the Black Consciousness holiday in Brazil. Fred wrote a little message supporting the fight against racism, and asked for the afro-Brazilian culture to be more valued in the country.

The day before that, a black man was killed in a supermarket in Porto Alegre. Several personalities sent messages of discontent about the situation, and there were riots in stores all over Brazil.

“Sure. I’ve said that a lot. I think we, the players, have a very important social role. Today, social network is everything. So the people who have a lot of followers managed to reach many people around the world. I think we have to have that nice awareness.

“We have to try to make everyone aware of not having any kind of prejudice. So I feel very honoured to be able, at least a little bit, on social media, to talk about it. Not only racism, but any kind of prejudice, we have to try to ban it and we have to love the others. This is very important.”