Man City vs Man United: Cristiano Ronaldo Dropped From Match Squad, Reason Revealed

Man City vs Man United: Cristiano Ronaldo Dropped From Match Squad, Reason Revealed

by Victor Ndubuisi
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Trevor Sinclair, a former Manchester City player, has suggested some reasons why Ralf Rangnick may have opted to leave Cristiano Ronaldo out of Manchester United’s squad for Sunday’s derby match.

Manchester City will host their next-door rivals, Manchester United, at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday for the Manchester derby, and Sinclair says City players will target Ronaldo.

The Portugal international has been sent off twice in Manchester derbies, giving him the unenviable distinction of being the only player to get that many red cards in the tense game.

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Ralf Rangnick, the interim manager, may have taken this into account and chose to leave the Portuguese out of his 21-man squad for the crucial match.

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Ronaldo was not among the Manchester United players that gathered on Saturday evening to prepare for the encounter.

And this has raised serious doubts about the striker’s involvement in the Manchester derby.

Manchester United’s 21-man team reported at The Lowry Hotel on the eve of the match, as is traditional, but the Portuguese and several other key players were not among those there.

Ronaldo was known to lose his cool against Manchester City, especially in his early years with the Red Devils, according to Sinclair.

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Sinclair said on talkSPORT that his former City colleagues used to target the former Real Madrid player in derby matches to get an advantage over their local rivals.

“We were the underdogs, we were the ones that were trying to level it out a little by getting into them and [putting in] a few rough tackles,” Sinclair said.

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“I remember Ronaldo getting sent off twice against Manchester City in the Manchester derby.

“He was one we earmarked before the games, obviously he’s a threat, very dangerous, young player at the time, get into him.

“And if you could leave a little bit on him, leave a little bit on him, and he did and he reacted in a bad way.

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“He took two red cards in the Manchester derbies against us, so it certainly worked and it definitely made them a less of a threat without him in their side.”

 

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