Ralf Rangnick Confirms What Cristiano Ronaldo Said To Him After Being Substituted

Ralf Rangnick has added more information to what happened when he took Cristiano Ronaldo off against Brentford in midweek, confirming exactly what the forward said to him.

Ronaldo was not happy at all for being taken off in the 71st minute on Wednesday night, with Manchester United leading 2-0 away to Thomas Frank's side.

The 36-year-old remonstrated with United's interim boss as he came off the pitch, eventually sat down in a sulk, on the steps rather than a seat, and shook his head and muttered to himself.

Eventually Rangnick came over to talk to the five time Ballon d'Or winner to explain why he'd replaced Ronaldo with Harry Maguire, with the German even telling the press exactly what he told the forward.

Now the former RB Leipzig manager has given more details to the story, confirming exactly what it was the striker had said to him as he came off the pitch.

"The job of a football manager is to help teams win games and, for me, it was clear after the experience we had at Villa Park that this time we had to do things better," Rangnick explained in his press conference on Friday.

"The only question was who we take off. Cristiano is a prolific goal scorer and a player who always wants to play and score goals.

Ronaldo did not try to hide his annoyance at being taken off. Image: PA Images

"He was also asking ‘why me not one of the younger players?’

"The answer came five minutes later when one of the younger players scored the third goal.

"Maybe Cristiano could also have scored that goal but football is not always ‘maybe’, it’s about getting a decision in the right moment."

United had thrown away a two goal lead the previous week against Aston Villa, something that they really wanted to avoid on Wednesday.

With Ronaldo off the pitch, it was Marcus Rashford who put them 3-0 up, in what was a much needed goal for the England forward after a tough few weeks.

Rashford was in need of his goal and his teammates were quick to celebrate with him. Image: PA Images

Having previously questioned the attitude of the young players at Old Trafford, it is quite something that the former Juventus forward was then asking why they should be staying on ahead of him.

According to a report on Friday, the Portugal forward's teammates weren't happy with the criticism, and the players feel more comfortable talking to fellow senior striker Edinson Cavani.

Another report has said that Ronaldo was unhappy with Rangnick away from the Brentford game, with the interim boss annoying his player by switching him from striker to the left flank during a recent training session.

Topics: Premier League, Manchester United, Ralf Rangnick, Cristiano Ronaldo, Brentford

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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