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    Ralf Rangnick confirms Cristiano Ronaldo will be ready for Atletico Madrid clash

    Planet Sport writerStaff Writer14 March 2022
    Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his hat trick goal and his sides third goal of the game during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester.

    Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his hat trick goal and his sides third goal of the game during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester.

    Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick is hoping to get another ‘good’ performance from Cristiano Ronaldo in their huge Champions League match against Atletico Madrid.

    Last weekend, Ronaldo was the chief protagonist at Old Trafford as his 59th career hat-trick helped the Red Devils to a 3-2 win over top-four rivals Tottenham. 

    Just 72 hours on from his Premier League heroics, the Portugal international will be looking to do the same against Atletico Madrid.

    The two teams will clash in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.

    Manager Ralf Rangnick is not concerned about the 37-year-old's recovery time, saying: "So far he's always been a person who looks quite a lot after himself, his body and he exactly knows what to do, so I'm not worried about that.

    "If he can score another three goals, we will see. I mean, it's not so easy to score three goals against this team at all.
    "I think his overall performance was just good, if not even very good and this is obviously what we hope to get from him again tomorrow night.
    "But it's not just about Cristiano, it's about the whole team."

    The former Real Madrid star has proven the scourge of Atleti on a number of occasions, and the Red Devils will be undoubtedly buoyed by his inclusion.

    Ronaldo faced criticism after missing out the recent Manchester derby, but Rangnick underlined his belief in the player's professionalism.

    He said: "There was a lot of discussion before that game but I just think he showed what kind of professional player he is, what kind of level he can still play.
    "For us it's important with performances like the one that he showed, he's still a very important player in this team.
    "He can make the difference and also tomorrow for us it would be good to show a similar performance that he did against Tottenham."
    As well as Ronaldo, Rangnick will have the rest of his squad to chose from as Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw all returned to training on the eve on the Champions League clash.

    The Man United boss added: "There is a question mark, a small question mark, behind Luke Shaw. He has been training yesterday and today but we have to wait and see if he's fully fit in order to be available for the game.

    "All the other players are back in training and available for tomorrow."
    The match against Atletico kicks off at 20:00 GMT, with the current aggregate score 1-1 following the draw in Madrid.

    READ MORE: Man Utd must keep up 'beautiful reaction' against Atletico Madrid, says Pogba

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