Manchester United was powerless to overcome Leicester City in a must-win match on Saturday due to the unavailability of firepower in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The club doctor pronounced their 37-year-old star sick, and he was unavailable during a 1-1 draw with Leicester at Old Trafford, as Bruno Fernandes struggled to step up in the ‘false-nine’ position. As an outcome of the draw, they may now fall further behind Arsenal and Tottenham in the fight for the top four.
However, their setback was predictable given Ronaldo’s absence from the matchday lineup. And his influence is illustrated by their record without the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
To say that United has had a terrible season is an inappropriate description, and the blame has been shared as fans try to figure out what went wrong for the Red Devils.
Ronaldo is one of the team members who has been picked out this season as fans turn against the Portuguese star, but a shocking fact shows that he is not the issue.
United have yet to win a Premier League game in which Ronaldo has debuted, and they have only won one game in all competitions in his absence.
The Portuguese icon single-handedly influenced them through the Champions League group stages, but his utter lack appears to have cost them a place in the top four.
Manchester United have drawn the other six Premier League games when Ronaldo hasn’t decided to start, given the fact that the only game they’ve lost without him was against Manchester City. And it indicates that they don’t have the ruthless desire to win matches without Ronaldo.
Those forfeited points may end up hurting them at the end of the season, as they are currently three points under Arsenal, who have two games in hand on United. Depending on the outcome of their match against Newcastle, the Red Devils might find themselves three points under Tottenham.
With only eight games left, United is racing against the clock to make a late push for a top-four finish, and without Champions League football, a major exit might be on the horizon for next season. Ronaldo, for one, is unlikely to accept anything less than Europe’s top-tier competition.
