Alves preaches caution against United in second leg

Paris Saint-Germain defender Dani Alves has warned against complacency when they take on Manchester United in the second leg of their last 16 clash.

The Ligue 1 leaders defeated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side 2-0 at Old Trafford courtesy of goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe, Paul Pogba was sent off late on for the hosts to compound their misery.

However, the former Barcelona full-back is not taking anything for granted. Speaking with L’Equipe he said:

“Of course, I think we have taken a big step,” said the Brazilian, “But we cannot be too confident, we know that in football anything can happen. We have to repeat the great work we did in the first leg.”

The Parisians have been on the end of shock turnarounds before when in 2017 they surrendered a 4-0 first leg victory over Barcelona only to fall 6-1 in the return fixture and send PSG tumbling out in humiliating fashion.

Alves says to go deep into the tournament the team must be fearless.

“In football, you cannot be scared. In life, if the goals are not always achieved, it is because of fear. You must never be afraid, you need respect, because [United] is a historic team in the Champions League.

“I am always kidding but the ‘virgin’ team in this competition is us, not Manchester United who have already won it.”

PSG host the Red Devils at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday as they hope to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.