Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo takes over as team captain in a Premier League match for the first time since 2008.
Cristiano Ronaldo received the captain’s armband
The Portugal player was given the captain’s armband for Man Utd’s match against the wolves on Monday. Man Utd’s permanent captain Harry Maguire was left out of the team on the Premier League side and the club said he was unavailable. Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo will lead manager Ralf Rangnick’s team to meet at Old Trafford for the first time since he returned to the club.
The last time a Portugal player was named captain of Man Utd’s was in March 2008, during a Premier League match against Bolton, which they won 2-0. At that time, Cristiano Ronaldo stood for the veteran of the Welsh national team Ryan Giggs, who was put on the bench by Sir Alex Ferguson.
A little about Phil Jones
The absence of Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Harry Maguire backs saw Phil Jones first appear on the senior team since January 2020. The defender was out with a knee injury and played with the Under-23 side as he worked to get back to fitness. Red Devils interim manager Ralf Rangnick said Phil Jones was extremely professional the entire time, even when he was not on the lineup.
According to Ralf Rangnick, they knew that their other two centers who had played against Burnley had left since yesterday evening, so it was a logical choice for Ralf. Ralf Rangnick also said that Victor Lindelof was still positive, so it was clear that he would not be available from yesterday. Harry Maguire got a knock on the chest against Burnley – they hoped he would be okay, but yesterday he tried and it was impossible. Maguire had too much pain, even just standing around, he could not play.