On Sunday's local derby between Manchester United and Manchester City, Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to make his return to the starting lineup for Manchester United.

After a dissatisfying summer that carried over into the new season, the 37-year-old player has been forced to sit tight while his opportunities await. The majority of this window, Ronaldo gave off the impression that he was intent on orchestrating a move, with rumors suggesting that he wanted to play in the Champions League again.

But despite all of the rumors, it looks like he will be staying at Old Trafford, albeit in a role that is unfamiliar to him and that he has only rarely played in his long and distinguished career: super sub. Ronaldo has only started one of United's six Premier League games so far, and that game happened to be the team's worst performance of the season, as they were defeated by Brentford by a score of 4-0.

But since Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are both in danger of missing this weekend's match at the Etihad Stadium, Erik ten Hag has little choice but to insert the seasoned player back into the starting lineup in their place. In public, the manager of Manchester United has maintained a completely positive attitude toward the Portuguese icon, maintaining that he is an essential component of his plan to revolutionize the Old Trafford club.

On the other hand, actions speak louder than words, and his continued omission from the starting lineup had given the impression that the Dutchman was content to move forward without Ronaldo as a starter. Pep Guardiola will be the one responsible for stopping a hungry Ronaldo, who has a point to prove to his critics. This appears to be about to change, and it will be Guardiola's job to do so.

And the number of people who have doubts about him continues to grow with each passing week, with the Portuguese press demanding that he be removed from the national team and Antonio Cassano urging him to retire. "At this point in his career, Cristiano should learn to love himself, do himself a favor, and realize that he needs to retire from professional soccer if he is unable to reach a certain level," He is a phenomenon who has triumphed in everything he has attempted. The former Real Madrid striker has stated that it is now time for him to hang up his cleats.

However, Guardiola will not be adding his name to that list, and he is aware of the nature of the competition that his team will face. The former manager of Barcelona has competed against Ronaldo numerous times throughout his career as a manager, and as a result, he is well aware of the danger that Ronaldo poses.

The Spaniard remarked about his compatriot one year ago, "He's been one of the greatest in the last 15 years, alongside [Lionel] Messi." What these two guys have accomplished is something that will never happen again.

Erik ten Hag will start for Man Utd against City on Sunday.

"When you achieve these things, you will be under scrutiny every second of your life, and with the rise of social media, that scrutiny will become even more intense." As a finisher, he is excellent, and I'm not going to try to hide the fact that it has been a pleasure for me to watch him over the past few years.

"When you achieve these things, you will be under scrutiny every second of your life, and with the rise of social media, that scrutiny will become even more intense." As a finisher, he is excellent, and I'm not going to try to hide the fact that it has been a pleasure for me to watch him over the past few years.

Guardiola even admitted that he had to come up with a special strategy in order to stop one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the game before they played each other in the previous season. "We need to explode our game and our strength to avoid Cristiano close to the box because there he is almost unstoppable," he explained. "We need to avoid Cristiano close to the box."

"I remember when we played there, and we were winning 1-0 and in control, perfect, perfect, and then the first time arrived, he made a chance, and Eddy [Ederson Moraes] made an incredible save," he said. "It was a perfect game." Although he hadn't even touched the ball, he was very close to scoring. That is the ability that he possesses and the quality that he possesses.

"We need to get him under control. When you are one of the greatest goal-scoring machines that he was, you will always be there because of your status as one of the greatest. He possesses an extremely powerful mind. Because he had always responded in a positive way to the expectations placed on him throughout his career, he was able to handle the pressure without any difficulty.