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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Liam Wood

Manchester United defender Raphael Varane shows support to Ukraine amid Russia conflict

Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has showcased his support for Ukraine amid ongoing conflict.

Russia invaded their bordering southern neighbours on Thursday morning and fighting continues across Ukrainian towns and cities with key figures throughout the sporting world and beyond reaching out to the country to show solidarity in the midst of that crisis.

United players displayed a banner calling for 'peace' before their Premier League game with Watford.

Interim manager Ralf Rangnick was credited as being the initiator behind that stance - while Varane and his United were joined hand in hand by opponents Watford at Old Trafford.

The banner featured the word 'peace' written in several languages.

Varane and United kept a clean sheet at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon, but their meeting with the relegation-threatened Hornets proved to be a frustrating 90 minutes.

Several clear-cut chances were passed up as Rangnick and his team had to settle for a point.

The message posted by Raphael Varane on his Instagram profile. (Instagram (@raphaelvarane))

The result has dented their top-four hopes with Arsenal in pole position for Champions League qualification.

Varane, though, has opted to focus his attention on more important matters while taking to Instagram post-match. Uploading a picture of players from both sides with the Ukraine 'peace' banner, he said: "Bigger than football."

His post included two love heart emojis - one in yellow and one in blue, the same colours as the Ukrainian flag.

United have already taken action in response to the ongoing crisis in eastern Europe.

Indeed, the Premier League giants ended their association with Russian company Aeroflot on after the airline were, on Thursday, prevented from flying into the UK by its Government.

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