‘Manchester United was a HOLIDAY compared to Juventus’: Patrice Evra admits time in Italy was ‘one of the most difficult challenges’ in his career
- Patrice Evra spent eight years at Manchester United, playing nearly 400 games
- He would then move onto Juventus towards the end of his football career
- Evra believes his time in Turin was far more difficult than his spell at United
Patrice Evra has admitted his years at Manchester United ‘felt like a holiday’ when he compares it to his spell at Juventus.
The former left-back spent eight years at Old Trafford, making nearly 400 appearances for the English side, winning five Premier League titles and the Champions League too.
He would then move onto Juventus in 2014 towards the end of his career and Evra admitted it was much tougher.
Patrice Evra admitted his years at Manchester United ‘felt like a holiday’ compared to Juventus
When asked on Sky Sports whether the mentality at Juventus was different, he replied: ‘Yes.
‘I won a lot of trophies with Manchester United, and I’m not scared to say that I felt like I was on holiday compared to Juventus.
‘The way they worked, the training, even like two days before the game in the hotel… you train on the day of the game.
‘Mentally, that’s why I’m so proud of playing for Juventus. It was one of the most difficult challenges in my life and you had one day off per month.
The former left-back spent eight years at Old Trafford, making almost 400 appearances
‘They control everything, they force you to eat at the club and I learned a lot at the club, also tactically.
‘Juventus were one of my biggest challenges and I’m so proud I spent two years and a half with them.
‘I didn’t enjoy [the lifestyle] because I like to control myself, but it’s really important for some young players.
‘Juventus have this DNA of working hard. I even saw some players vomit and they still finished the training sessions.
But he believed his time at the Italian giants was much tougher than his time at United
‘I remember every game they wanted me to run 12km. Sometimes I felt it made no sense because we always had the ball.
‘Some games I was running 9km, some 10km, and two days later at training, you have to complete your 12km so they made me run another 2km, 3km.
‘The training is harder than the game. Some people say it’s easier to play in Italy but they wouldn’t even be able to train. It was such a shock for me.’
