It has gone down in Premier League history as one of the most fiery and bitter feuds ever. Patrice Evra was subjected to racist abuse by Liverpool attacker Luis Suarez during a fierce 1-1 draw between the title rivals in October 2011, leading to a lengthy court case and an apology from the Reds years later.
Suarez was eventually charged with racially abusing the Frenchman, and subsequently refused to shake Evra's hand in the return fixture later in the season. Patrice Evra has forgiven the Uruguayan for what happened, but reveals they almost came to blows at a Selfridges following the incident.
"I have no regrets, but my problem with Suarez took a long time to calm down," the Frenchman told the December issue of FourFourTwo, which you can order here. "Later, I saw him one day in Selfridges in Manchester city centre. I was with my brother; he was with his wife and daughter. My brother said, 'Look, he’s there – let’s go and have it out with him.'
"But we couldn’t, not with family. Years later I played against him in the Champions League final for Juventus against Barcelona – we shook hands and wished each other luck. Liverpool apologised to me years later, which I appreciated.
"I don’t know if Luis is a racist or not, but what he said to me that day was definitely racist, and that’s why he was punished."
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