Cristiano Ronaldo missed Manchester United in a derby with the city rival City in Sunday’s Premier League match. To the surprise of his teammates, the team flew to Portugal. Even his former captain Roy Keane does not understand what is happening in the team.
The Portuguese national team was surprised that coach Ralf Rangnick decided not to nominate him for the basic line-up against the Citizens.
When Edinson Cavani was injured, Rangnick summoned Anthony Elang’s comet this season. Ronald was counting on the second half for the 37-year-old sniper to play against the more weary defense.
But it didn’t happen at all. Ronaldo originally insisted that he wanted to play from the beginning of the match. When Rangnick did not nominate him, he was furious, the Sun reported.
Ronaldo then traveled to Portugal. The fact that he did not stay with the team surprised even his teammates in the cabin. He felt good during the week and was looking forward to meeting the Citizens.
So no one expected the club doctors’ report on the hip problem. “I was hoping to have Ronald at my disposal,” Rangnick admitted.
The match itself was dominated by Pepa Guardiola’s team with a clear result 4: 1. The Blue was led by Kevin De Bruyne, whose shot was further answered by Jadon Sancho. However, De Bruyne returned the home lead to the break and sealed City Riyadh Mahriz with two goals.
Doubts about the reasons for Ronald’s absence were swept off the Manchester coach’s table. “I trust my medical department. Our doctor told me on the morning before the training that Cristiano could not train due to a hip problem. It was the same on Saturday,” he told reporters at a press conference.
Former United captain and now television expert Roy Keane was also surprised. “I don’t understand and I don’t like the coach talking about a hip problem. We’re talking about Ronaldo being like a machine, and then he comes up with a ‘hip problem’ at any moment. He won’t add that,” he commented without a napkin.
Information on the fact that United will go to the match without Ronald spread on Saturday night. “The coach wants to go into a match with a different defense-oriented strategy, it’s a purely tactical choice. Ronaldo won’t even be on the bench,” wrote the cr7.0_legendario instagram account, which CR7 himself monitors.
Ronaldo reportedly flew south because he believed that warmer weather could benefit his convalescence. His deputies insist that the star striker misses his team precisely because of health problems.
