02 November 2023 , 08:40
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Former Manchester United star Rafael has claimed ex-colleague Carlos Tevez picked on young teammates during the two years the pair spent together at Old Trafford.
Tevez joined United in 2007 after spending a season with West Ham, and ended his first campaign as a Premier League and Champions League winner. He added a second league title the following season, but then made a controversial switch to neighbours Manchester City.
Brazilian defender Rafael spent a season around the United first-team with Tevez, but later had a run-in with the Argentine during a Manchester derby. Now, the right-back has opened up on how his bad blood with his fellow South American dates back to when they were colleagues.
"I’m not a fan of Tevez, not as a player," Rafael told Sportv (via Sport Witness) when comparing his current Botafogo team to the 2007-08 United vintage. He has been back in the Brazilian top-flight since 2021, having also spent time in France and Turkey.
"I’ve already had a fight with him. The game against City, he’d left United. I’ve never been a fan of his because Tevez liked to rubbish new players. I’m not ashamed to say, I don’t like him.
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"He did a lot to young players. He treated the youngsters badly at United. He was always very respectful, but he really picked on the youngsters there, so I never liked him. "
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Rafael and Tevez were briefly Manchester United team-mates (AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)
Tevez and Rafael clashed in a 2010 Manchester derby (John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)Rafael also reflected further on the derby fight. He and Tevez faced off in a goalless 2010 Premier League clash, with referee Chris Foy separating the pair but declining to get his cards out of his pocket.
"He left United for City. The fight happened, I hit him. The referee gave a foul, I did like this to get him off, he pushed me and it started,” the full-back added.
The assessment is rather different to how Rafael saw things in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Back then, he played down any disagreement with Tevez, both in the specific incident and in general.
"This was normal," he said at the time, per The Sun. "The rivalry is always fierce in a derby and if a Brazilian is against an Argentinian, even more so.
"I do not have a problem with Tevez. It's up to every footballer to defend his club 100 per cent. I am unhappy with the scoreline as we needed to win to leave City behind but I'm very content with my own performance."