Why Ronaldo was benched vs Chelsea

One of the surprising highlights from the match between Chelsea and Man Utd was that Portugal international and world football star Cristiano Ronaldo was benched.

Reacting to Man Utd decision to bench Ronaldo, former Liverpool and England left-back, Stephen Warnock in a statement, revealed why it was so.

Warnock said that the Red Devils caretaker boss, Michael Carrick, benches Cristiano Ronaldo because the Portugal captain would not press during the clash.

Warnock believes Carrick made the ‘right call’ not to start Ronaldo despite scoring a goal during Man United’s Uefa Champions League 2-0 win over Villarreal a few days ago.

While he didn’t start Ronaldo, Carrick, however, opted to start Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to lead Man United’s attack against Chelsea, with Bruno Fernandes supporting the England internationals.

“I think it’s the right call [to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench]’, Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“You understand what Ronaldo’s about and the sort of player he is, but he’s not going to press; he’s going to play a bit-part role in the game and maybe score you a goal on the counter.

“I’m sure the plan will be to keep it tight for 60/70 minutes and then introduce Ronaldo to the game to hope he can get that goal.”