Ronaldo had evidently missed Manchester United’s embarrassing defeat at Manchester City on Sunday and questions quickly arose in the aftermath of the mauling by the Sky Blues regarding Rangnick’s claim that his absence was due to a hip flexor injury.
Tensions continue to escalate at Old Trafford after further news emerged that the Portuguese forward had purportedly committed an act of defiance after discovering he had been allegedly snubbed by Rangnick. Unrest has crept into the team where some felt Ronaldo’s presence, even if it had been from the bench at the Etihad, would have been beneficial.
Although Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes started in the forward positions in a 4-2-2-2 formation in the absence of the superstar, United were clearly hard-pressed attempting to go forward, which was hard to miss in the second-half when they failed to have any attempts on their crosstown rivals’ goal.
It soon surfaced after the match that there was more to Ronaldo’s injury than what it had been made out to be as the legendary striker was also not in the stands nor in the dugout supporting his teammates. Apparently Ronaldo seemed to have defied Rangnick after being told he would not be part of the starting line-up to face Manchester City.
Instead of sticking with the team and lending his support to boost their morale, Ronaldo is understood to have jetted off to his native Portugal, an action that totally floored his team-mates at Old Trafford. When pressed for clarification post-match, it was all Rangnick could do to insist that he had only taken the advice of his medical staff that it was inadvisable for the Portuguese to play.
“I have to believe my medical department,” United’s interim boss said.
“My doctor came to see me on Friday morning before training and told me Cristiano Ronaldo cannot train because of some problems with his hip flexor.
“The same was true on Saturday and that’s why he couldn’t be part of the squad.”
However, despite the explanation, doubt has persisted over Rangnick’s explanation for Ronaldo’s absence after The Sun reported the attacker’s future at Old Trafford is in ‘serious doubt’. The report further claims that Rangnick had instead opted to axe the 37-year-old from his starting line-up and that his exclusion from the squad for the derby had nothing to do with a hip flexor injury.
The new plot that unfurled surmised that a fuming Ronaldo incensed by Rangnick’s decision hence did not turn up for both the game and the scheduled club meal on Saturday. Instead the five-time Ballon d’Or winner opted to fly home to his native Portugal, with Rangnick caught off-guard attempting to explain his absence as an injury.
Ronaldo’s decision to fly home to Portugal was in itself an act of defiance as The Sun claims that Rangnick had previously insisted that players either being treated for injuries or convalescing must conduct their rehabilitation in Manchester and not abroad.
This latest news that Ronaldo had actually defied Rangnick’s instructions will likely come as no surprise to the likes of United legend Roy Keane, who had questioned the Portuguese’s absence from the squad in the Manchester derby.
“There seems to be more to the Ronaldo story when a manager comes out and talks about a hip flexor. I don’t get it,” he told Sky Sports.
“We talk about Ronaldo being a machine and very rarely getting injured but every now and again he comes out with that… a hip flexor? It doesn’t add up to me.”