Ronaldo reportedly asked to be dropped for the game against Manchester City and his teammates aren’t too happy about it.
The Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United love affair has turned out to be nothing but a flame that came with a rather early expiration date.
For the two monsters of football, the weather is not very good. Both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are attracting a lot of criticism in England and France respectively. However, it is the Portuguese whose stock has fallen considerably in recent days.
However, the start of the new love story between Ronaldo and the Red Devils seemed idyllic. Disappointed and frustrated by his time at Juventus, the five-time Ballon d’Or had found a smile when he returned to Old Trafford, twelve years after leaving for Real Madrid.
After scoring 4 goals in his first 5 official matches with United, Ronaldo demonstrated that the weight of age (he was 36 at the time, 37 since February 5) had no hold on him.
And then the situation began to deteriorate over the months. On the field, CR7 has scored only one goal since the start of 2022. When you’ve been used to the standards of the Portuguese forward, especially at Real Madrid, it’s weird. Behind the scenes, it’s not rosy either. As of last month, rumors announcing a possible departure of the number 7 at the end of the season and tensions within the Mancunian locker room were emerging.
Since then, everything has accelerated, and the Manchester derby controversy seems to mark a turning point. Absent from the encounter, Ronaldo was officially injured. But in reality, this was not the case, according to several media reports.
The player had gone to Portugal and his choice not to be present in the stands at the Etihad annoyed his teammates. A trip to his country that the club refused to mention. This Tuesday, AS puts a part back in the machine with other elements.
Understandably, the rest of the team clearly criticizes Ronaldo for putting his interests before those of the group. In addition, few understand why CR7 wants to save himself for the Champions League match against Atlético when the meeting is scheduled in 9 days.
The daily also recalls that the Portuguese believes that Ralf Rangnick does not have the level to train a club of this standing. So many elements that make a divorce more and more possible at the end of the season.