The player who chose Liverpool over United in 2006 and scored them a free-kick goal

"Every player dreams of playing this game, and I was no different. It was my favourite match. You can't imagine being involved in a bigger game. Going to Old Trafford, I enjoyed the hostility that awaited us. In a strange way, that kind of reception helped me feel more confident. In my mind, if you were booed, it meant you were probably doing something good," Fabio Aurelio recounts his experience in an opinion column.

"Old Trafford fans could have cheered me on in another world. A few days ago, someone sent me a report saying that Manchester United were following me when I was at Valencia. I was surprised because that news didn't reach me at the time. Anyway, I couldn't have signed for a better club than Liverpool in 2006," adds the former Liverpool player.

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According to Aurelio, one of his best memories as a Red was playing and scoring in the 4-1 win at United during 2008-09. He remembers that free-kick like it was yesterday, because, he reveals, he didn't score many goals that way in his career, so that one is always in the back of his mind, it's impossible for it not to be there. It was very important for him to score that day, especially at that moment of the game.

The derbies against ManU and Everton

Aurelio says he grew up in Brazil at a time when not much English football was shown in his country, but a lot of Japanese and Italian football was shown. It wasn't until he arrived at Valencia in 2000 that he started to follow the Premier League and understood the passion, and when he arrived at Liverpool, he realised the importance of the games against United and Everton.  

"I can understand that they are overwhelming for those who are experiencing them for the first time. But the more you play in them, the more prepared you feel. Jürgen Klopp's team is very used to the high-level games - finals, semi-finals and rivals - having played so many of them," he says.