Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has announced that he would be without his talismanic top scorer for the trip to 'noisy neighbors' Manchester City.
Ralf Rangnick, Manchester United's interim manager, has revealed why Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Sunday's local derby against Manchester City.
The Red Devils already face a difficult challenge in facing the reigning Premier League winners at the Etihad Stadium, but they will now have to do so without their legendary number seven.
The 37-year-old was not seen with the rest of the United squad at The Lowry Hotel on Saturday night, prompting reports of his absence.
Prior to the derby, Ronaldo had only missed one game for the Red Devils due to injury, but he will now miss probably United's most important game of the season as they try to keep their Champions League chances alive.
Cristiano Ronaldo will not play in the Manchester derby.
Prior to kickoff, Rangnick informed fans about the reasons for Ronaldo's absence, as well as a number of other first-team players.
"Unfortunately, in midweek, Rapha Varane and Luke Shaw tested positive for COVID," the German revealed.
Edi [Cavani] trained hard over the last three days, but he didn't feel well enough to play in the end.
"And Cristiano had an issue with his hip flexor on Friday, so he hasn't trained since."
Since the turn of the year, the Portugal captain has struggled for form, with only one goal to show for his efforts, and this injury is the latest setback.
Rangnick did not say when the 37-year-old will be able to return to action or for how long he will be out.
While some United fans may be concerned about a trip to Etihad without Ronaldo, Old Trafford icon Gary Neville believes the news will benefit Rangnick's team.
Ronaldo has been ruled out with a hip flexor injury, according to Ralf Rangnick, and has not trained since Friday.
Before the game, Neville informed Sky Sports that United will try to harm their local rivals by playing on the counter-attack, a strategy that would see Marcus Rashford lead the line instead of David De Gea.
"Manchester United will be playing on the counter; the Red Devils have been a counter-attacking team for the last three or four seasons, particularly under Ole, and are quite comfortable sitting back and punching out via Rashford and others on the break. That will continue to be the case today," Neville explained.
"I can't say that Cristiano's absence is a negative, but it's not as significant as it may be in other games because they need to be dangerous on the counter-attack today, and Rashford is a stronger counter-attacker than Ronaldo."
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