Cristiano Ronaldo will be left out of Manchester United's squad to face Chelsea, the club said Thursday after the Portugal international walked out of the team's 2-0 win over Tottenham before the final whistle.
United manager Erik ten Hag said after Wednesday's walkout at Old Trafford that he would “deal with” Ronaldo a day later.
“Cristiano will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s game against Chelsea," United said in a statement Thursday. "The rest of the squad is fully focused on preparing for that fixture.”
United said it fully backed the decision made by Ten Hag.
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Ronaldo headed to the changing room after being left as an unused substitute in the match.
It left Ten Hag fielding questions about the incident on a night when United produced arguably its best performance of the season.
“I don’t pay attention today,” the Dutchman said after the match. “We deal with that tomorrow. I want to keep the focus on this team. It was a magnificent performance from all the 11 players.”
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Ten Hag has already proved himself a strict disciplinarian — canceling his team's day off after the 4-0 defeat to Brentford in August, while he was also critical of Ronaldo and other players for leaving a preseason friendly after Rayo Vallecano at halftime in July.
