Ralf Rangnick responds to Roy Keane's comments over Cristiano Ronaldo's injury situation
Manchester United's interim manager, Ralf Rangnick has responded to club legend, Roy Keane's comments on footballing superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo not making the trip during their 4-1 loss to rivals, Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
Rangnick had confirmed that Ronaldo was ruled out of the 187th Manchester derby with an injury to his hip flexor, though Keane questioned such an diagnoses by stating that, "We talk about Ronaldo being a machine and very rarely getting injured… it doesn't add up to me."
"I have to believe my medical department. My doctor came to see me on Friday morning before training and told me Cristiano Ronaldo cannot train because of some problems with his hip flexor and the same was true on Saturday and that's why he couldn't be part of the squad," the German explained on the Portugal skippers absence from the game.
? "We talk about Ronaldo being a machine, very rarely injured then every now and again he comes out with "hip flexor" it doesn't add up to me."
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 6, 2022
Roy Keane questions the exclusion of Cristiano Ronaldo from the Man United team pic.twitter.com/1WuYGB2ObG
Rangnick also opened up on Edinson Cavani's situation, with the Uruguayan missing for the sixth successive game as he stated that "he cannot force a player to play, especially if the player thinks he's not available because he has an injury."
The loss on the night saw the Red Devils slip to fifth in the league table as it looks increasingly doubtful whether they will qualify for the Champions League come next season.