The German decided after 70 minutes to exchange the Portuguese star for defender Harry Maguire and Ronaldo was clearly not happy with that. “He said: why me? Why are you taking me off?” Rangnick said about Ronaldo’s tirade at the substitution.
The 36-year-old Portuguese sat down on the couch grumbling and threw his training jacket on the floor in anger. From the side, Ronaldo watched his teammates decide the game. Marcus Rashford, another substitute, scored the third goal.
“I said to Cristiano: listen, I have to make this decision in the interest of the team,” Rangnick said.
“It was the same situation as five days earlier against Aston Villa. Then we were also leading 2-0 fifteen minutes before the end, but we let them come back to 2-2. We didn’t want to make the same mistake. So I decided to play with five men in the back and bring in a fast wing striker with Rashford. That was the right decision. Cristiano was obviously not happy, he is a goalscorer and always wants to be on the pitch. But we had to play compact, we needed fresh legs and strong headers. When we scored the third goal, I also said to Cristiano: I understand that you want to score goals, but if you are perhaps a coach yourself in a few years, you would make the same decision. I don’t expect a hug from him, but we certainly don’t have any problems with each other.”
View the standings, results and the program in the Premier League here.