Cristiano Ronaldo participated in Manchester United’s final preseason game against Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, July 31, 2022.
Ronaldo made his comeback despite playing for a primarily reserve United team after the first team lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid in Oslo on Saturday.
Due to his intention to leave the club during the summer transfer window, the striker has been absent from all of Erik ten Hag’s preseason games.
However, on Tuesday, July 26, he returned to training and revealed in an Instagram comment that he would be playing against the La Liga team.
During the preseason game, Raphael Varane served as captain, and Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez both got the game underway. A runout was also given to Alejandro Garnacho. The match served as United’s final exhibition before facing Brighton to open their Premier League season the following Saturday.
On Sunday, “the king,” as Ronaldo put it, would play. He started the game, not simply played. On his first Manchester United debut in 12 weeks, Ronaldo played for 45 minutes before he was replaced by Amad Diallo who made an immediate impact. He scored United’s only goal in the 48th minute.
When Ronaldo made a beeline for Ten Hag during a stoppage in play in the 34th minute, he did not appear to be particularly appreciative of Ten Hag’s instruction.
Today, United has relied more on counterattacks, and while Garnacho has had a few bright moments, there hasn’t been much penetration in the final third, particularly down Chong’s side.
Laird has also appeared a little shaken. Ten Hag had to settle James Garner down because he was already on a yellow and was trying to make an impact.
Despite the fact that Ronaldo only started exercising again on Tuesday morning, it was presumably assumed that he would play well today. He has displayed terrific link-up play and exuded energy throughout.
Mind you, it would have been a surprise if he were able to play the entire 90 minutes. A few minutes after Manchester United started the second half of the preseason game without him, Amad gave United the lead. Unfortunately, the lead did not last for more than 9 minutes before Álvaro García scored the equalizer for Rayo Vallecano.
Amad’s goal for Manchester United and García’s goal for Vallecano were all the game could produce as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Before today’s preseason game, the 37-year-old made it clear earlier this month that he wanted to leave the team, and he skipped United’s tour of Thailand and Australia.
🔴 Cristiano Ronaldo greeting the fans. [mu] pic.twitter.com/4VFByr2dBH
— The United Stand (@UnitedStandMUFC) July 31, 2022
After a series of speculations, Cristiano Ronaldo made a trip back to Carrington on Tuesday with his agent Jorge Mendes to discuss his future. Even though he is back on United’s team, it is still not certain what the future holds for Ronaldo at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo who returned to Old Trafford in August 2021 after playing at Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018 before joining Juventus where he spent three years, has a season left on his contract with Manchester United. The contract is expected to expire on June 30, 2023, if he does not trigger the one-year extension clause attached to it.
Amid that, he is hoping to join a club that can offer him Champions League football in the coming 2022-2023 season since Manchester United are only qualified to play Europa League football. If he is not able to get a new team this summer, he would play in the Europa League for the first time in his football career.
