Casemiro: ‘I’m a realist. Every game is a different story, a different film’

Casemiro has a simple way of shrugging off the spectre of Manchester United’s 6-3 trouncing by Manchester City in October as he prepares for Saturday’s FA Cup final and 190th derby.

“Every game is a different story, a different film as we like to say,” says the Brazilian. “You have to be realistic, and I like to be very much a realist. They were better than us in that game. They deserved to beat us but when you talk about a 6-3 in the context of a league, it’s still three points that you get.

“Of course, your morale drops and it’s boosted when you score six in victory [but] we beat them at home and as I’ve said, each game is completely different but losing in that way is tough for you. But, when you do lose like that, the most important game is the next one which you need to win and get three points from.”

The victory he cites over the City juggernaut of Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and company is January’s 2-1 Premier League return at Old Trafford. The 31-year-old was in the XI then but at the Etihad had been only a 59th-minute substitute , when United were 4-1 behind, Erik ten Hag preferring Scott McTominay in central midfield.

If a garlanded footballer who claimed five Champions Leagues at his previous club, Real Madrid, raised an eyebrow at his manager’s selection that day he is too professional to mention it. Instead, Casemiro talks loudest where it matters most: on the pitch, as in February’s Carabao Cup victory over Newcastle, heading the opener in a 2-0 triumph that secured Ten Hag the first trophy of his tenure and which, alongside a third-place finish, moves Casemiro to praise the manager’s impact in his opening season.

“The club have already won a trophy and we’ve clinched third place in the Premier League