Cristiano Ronaldo beats Manchester United teammates in a sprint after being benched due to fitness issues
Cristiano Ronaldo outpaces Manchester United teammates in a sprint race
Cristiano Ronaldo recently outperformed his Manchester United teammates in a footrace in training.The fact that this comes shortly after he was left out of the lineup citing fitness issuesmakes this feat all themore impressive.
Even though Anthony Martial was nursing a minor injury ahead of their Premier League openeragainst Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Erik ten Hag decided to keep Ronaldo onthe bench, stunting United's attacking options. Instead, hepickedChristian Eriksen to lead thecharge, who ultimately had to be deployed as a deep-lying midfielder in the second half.
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The new boss Ten Hag justified his decision to leave Ronaldo out of the starting lineup due to issues with his fitness after the Dutchmanfound himself at the receiving end of a significant amount of flak. Although Ronaldo was brought on in the 53rd minute, he couldn't bolster their attack as the Red Devils suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Brighton.
However, fitness seems to be the last problem for the Portuguese star as he was seen leading the pack in a post that was shared by the team's official Twitter account.
Ronaldo barely earned about 45 minutes ofgame time in United's pre-season exploits as he featured in the starting line-up during their 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano. He was forced to miss out on the team's pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia as he was called awaydue to some family issues.
Ronaldo has beenpursuing a move out of Old Trafford, albeit unsuccessfully. The biggest reason that has prompted his search for greener pastures isUnited's disastrous outing last season that ended with them tumbling out ofthe Champions League.
Their failure to achieve Champions League football has triggered a 25% reduction in players' salaries, which sources suggest, has not gone down too well with the 37-year-old. He was brought on board with a hefty£480,000-a-week contract. However, after the reduction, his basic weekly wage has taken a massive hit, going down to£360,000.