Patrice Evra says he always knew former Manchester United teammate Giuseppe Rossi was going to be a star. Rossi faces his old club with Villarreal tomorrow night and Evra said: "I knew he was going to be a good player.

"It was easy. Everybody knows Giuseppe Rossi. If you give him the ball in the box he will score every time.

"He is such a good professional. I am not surprised what he is doing now.

"When he left Manchester United I could only wish him all the best, but not against us on Tuesday."

Evra can understand why Rossi chose to leave a year ago.

"I sometimes say to the strikers here 'Thank God I am a defender'," said the former Monaco full-back.

"It is not easy to break through at Manchester United. When I arrived Gabriel Heinze and Mikael Silvestre were already here so you had three players for one position.

"You see the strikers and it is even worse. We have Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney. Cristiano can play up there and Ryan Giggs as well.

"You see all the names and realise just how hard it is. Believe me, just because Giuseppe Rossi did not play very often for Manchester United is not really a reflection on his talent."