Ronaldo led the attack for the Red Devils against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash on Wednesday. The 37-year-old played the full 90 minutes as Rangnick’s side came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw in Spain.
The Portugal international is known for his impressive record against Diego Simeone’s side. The 37-year-old has scored 25 goals from 35 matches against Atletico Madrid across all competitions before this week’s draw. However, he struggled to make an impact at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday, failing to register a single shot on target.
Nicol has now insisted that Ronaldo is starting to look like just another player. The former Premier League star suggested that the Red Devils should drop the veteran and start Marcus Rashford up front instead. He said on ESPN FC:
Ronaldo boasted a pass accuracy of 88 per cent on Wednesday night. However, the former Real Madrid superstar did not provide a single key pass to his team-mates.
He failed to win a single aerial duel against Atletico Madrid either. Meanwhile, Rashford and goalscorer Anthony Elanga won six of them between them.
Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will look to bounce back in return leg
Manchester United playing out a 1-1 draw against the La Liga champions this week means they have everything to play for in the second leg of the tie. The two sides are scheduled to lock horns with each other at Old Trafford on March 15.
Cristiano Ronaldo will look to make up for his underwhelming performance on Wednesday when the two sides meet again in the second leg.
It is worth noting that Ronaldo has scored 15 goals and provided three assists in 29 matches across all competitions for Manchester United so far this term. However, most of those strikes came early in the season, and the Portuguese superstar has scored just thrice in Rangnick’s 16 games as the Red Devils’ interim coach so far.
0 votes
