Ralf Rangnick believes Cristiano Ronaldo will be in the shape to repeat his heroics against Tottenham when he faces an old enemy in Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
The Portuguese scored a hat-trick against Spurs on Saturday in his first game back after missing the Manchester derby with a hip flexor injury.
At 37, Ronaldo faces a second high-pressure game in four days as United, who drew 1-1 at the Wanda Metropolitano last month, look to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for only the second time in eight years.
The veteran has had a heavy workload, playing the most minutes of any United outfield player in the Champions League, the third most in the Premier League and making 36 appearances for clubs and country.
But Rangnick said: "I'm not worried that he's not been able to recover. He has always been a person that looks after himself and his body. He knows what to do. If he can score another three goals, we will see. It's not easy to score three goals against this team. His overall performance [against Tottenham] was good, if not very good, and this is what we hope to see from him again."
Ronaldo scored 25 times against Atletico in Madrid derbies, including one in the 2014 Champions League final and the conclusive penalty in the 2016 final shoot-out, but was ineffectual in the first leg. Anthony Elanga got a late equaliser for United but Rangnick admitted his side need to perform better against Diego Simeone’s side.
"It's not just about Cristiano, it's about the whole team, we saw in the first half in Madrid, what we shouldn't do, how we shouldn't play and this was a big topic for us,” he said. “We have to know what it takes and tactically takes and the rest is about energy."
Rangnick believes the defensive excellence of Atletico makes it still more significant to score first. "It's very important,” he explained. “Even more so against a team like Atletico, who don't mind the other team having the ball. In their last four or five games, they had less than 50 per cent [of] possession. We are aware of that, we want to try not to concede at all if possible, but it will be important to score the first goal ourselves.”
Manchester United 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2 – player ratings
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MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea 6 Dived the right way for Kane’s penalty, but it was a perfect penalty. Wasn’t expecting Maguire to put the ball past him for Spurs’ second. EPA -
Diogo Dalot 6 Headed a 26th minute Dier header off the line. Bad challenge on Reguilon on 73, for which he held his hands up. Reuters -
Harry Maguire 5 Performed better than last week and involved in an open, thrilling, game. Then he scored an own goal and had Romero screaming in his face in celebration for his troubles. Lad needs a break. EPA -
Raphael Varane 7 Started the build up for the opening goal. United’s defence is better with the Frenchman in it. And three important points against a direct rival lifted the move ahead of Tuesday’s key Champions League game against Atletico. Getty -
Alex Telles 7 High cross for Ronaldo after 21. Handled the ball to concede Kane’s penalty. Costly error. Hits a decent free-kick/cross and his corner set up Ronaldo for the winner. Getty -
Nemanja Matic 7 Lost possession to Hojberg, who shot after 17. Read the line right when Spurs did put the ball in the next a minute after. Superb block to stop a dangerous attack on 29. His looping ball to Sancho would lead to United’s second. EPA -
Fred 8 Flicked the ball to set up Ronaldo’s opener, then blocked a Son strike five minutes later before immediately setting up Pogba to shoot. Another key tackle on 41. Good first half. Booked. Fine counter attack at 2-2, fine game. Reuters -
Paul Pogba 6 Shot wide as United surged forward again after 16 minutes. Lost the ball and gave a free kick to Spurs soon after. Played centrally in an area where Spurs had more possession…and helped them in their cause more than he’d have liked but while ponderous, could also play a pass to split their defence. Booked. Getty -
Marcus Rashford 5 First start in a month, but he had a quiet first half. More involved in the second and hit a cross towards Pogba, but no real threat. First player to come off. Getty -
Jadon Sancho 7 Beaten by Kulusevski in the run up to Spurs penalty. Stayed onside to set up Ronaldo for United’s second. Cut inside to shoot on 43. Busy. Lost the ball to set up a Spurs attack on 61. Beaten down the right too many times, but still doing well. Getty -
Cristiano Ronaldo 10 Scooped a sixth minute shot over. Then hit a magnificent curling shot past Lloris on 12. Met a Sancho cross to score United’s second on 38. Strike on target from distance on 66, then headed – magnificently – the winner on 82. Old Trafford came alive in song. 807 career goals to become football’s top goalscorer. Of all time. Getty -
SUBS: Anthony Elanga On for Rashford on 67. More valuable minutes. EPA -
Edinson Cavani On to a roar for Matic after 79. A brave move, but one which quickly paid off as United retook the lead. Getty -
Victor Lindelof 5 As Old Trafford roared ‘Viva Ronaldo’, the Swede replaced him on 83 minutes. AP -
TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris – 7 The Frenchman had no chance of keeping out Ronaldo’s terrific strike from outside the box in the opening minutes, but he was twice forced to push away the Portuguese striker’s effort for a hat-trick in the second half. Didn’t have much luck with any of the goals. EPA -
Cristian Romero – 5 The Atalanta loanee would have been flagged for offside if he had found Reguilon’s cross, but he’d distracted Maguire just enough to force the United man to convert into his own net for Spurs’ equaliser. Lost his man as Ronaldo climbed highest to claim his hat-trick. Getty -
Eric Dier – 6 The centre-back was in the centre of a handball claim in the opening minutes, which VAR denied, but he gave Ronaldo too much space and backed off just after. He nearly got his team level before the half-hour mark, forcing a goal-line clearance from Dalot. Booked. Getty -
Ben Davies – 6 The Welshman might have thought he’d scored his first goal of the season when he linked up with Reguilon and Son on the left flank, only to see the linesman raise his flag for offside. AP -
Matt Doherty – 6 The former Wolves man was caught ball watching and left Sancho to sprint free to play in Ronaldo before United’s second, before he misjudged Ronaldo for his hat-trick goal. Getty -
Rodrigo Bentancur – 6 The former Juventus man looks to be Conte’s first choice in a pairing with Hojbjerg in the centre of midfield. He managed some neat passes, though couldn’t dominate. Saw a first-half shot blocked by Maguire. PA -
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 7 The Denmark international was busy in midfield, finding several excellent passes and did well to win the ball from Matic in response to United finding their opener, though his resulting shot was weak and straight at De Gea. EPA -
Sergio Reguilon – 6 The Spaniard was the only change for Antonio Conte with Ryan Sessegnon sidelined. He appealed for offside in the build-up to Ronaldo’s second, only to find out he was the player keeping Sancho onside. He was later played in by Son, with his resulting cross seeing Maguire find the back of his own net. Booked for a high foot. Reuters -
Dejan Kulusevski – 7 The Juventus loanee collected Dier’s blocked free-kick before swiftly bypassing Sancho on the wing and winning a penalty when his cross hit Alex Telles’ arm. Continues to be an excellent addition. EPA -
Heung-Min Son – 5 After trying to make something happen for much of the first half to no avail, the Korean had the perfect opportunity to put his side level, but he was unable to adjust and saw his effort go narrowly wide of the post. EPA -
Harry Kane – 6 The English forward netted his sixth in five games when he stepped up to the spot and had enough power to squeeze past De Gea, who had guessed the right way. EPA -
SUBS: Lucas Moura (Kulusevski 78’) – N/R Attempted a few dribbles but did very little to make an impact. EPA -
Harry Winks (Bentancur 88’) – N/R The late substitute lofted a lovely ball into the box for Reguilon in the closing stages. EPA -
Steven Bergwijn (Davies 88’) – N/R A late change for Spurs as Conte pushed for a third equalising goal to no avail. Getty
Ronaldo is not the only Real Madrid old boy looking to frustrate Atletico but Rangnick suggested Raphael Varane faces a battle for his place. “With Victor Lindelof we have also won quite a few games and played well and had quite a few clean sheets,” he said. “We have top players in the centre of defence and it will not be so easy for me to take that decision.”
Rangnick could have a fully-fit squad to pick from with Luke Shaw probably available after missing the last two games because of Covid and Bruno Fernandes, who sat out the win over Tottenham, testing negative on Sunday and back in contention.
Atletico will be without the suspended Yannick Carrasco and the injured Thomas Lemar and Sime Vrsaljko. Simeone faces a decision on whether to start with Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann, who were both substitutes in the first leg.
With United fifth in the Premier League and Atletico fourth in La Liga, neither is guaranteed to be in the Champions League next season. Rangnick nevertheless has other incentives to win tonight.
“It's more about our own sporting ambition,” he said. “We are highly ambitious, we want to proceed, we want to show that we can compete with the best teams in Europe and therefore we will try everything to win the game. It doesn't matter which way we qualify for Champions League next season. The question is what is most realistic.”
