Manchester United have selected Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes in their squad for Tuesday's second leg against Atletico Madrid in their Champions League last 16 clash. With the score tied at 1-1 on aggregate following the first leg in Madrid last month, Ralf Rangnick's men return to European competition this week.
Fernandes is expected to return to the United team for the second leg at Old Trafford after missing Saturday's 3-2 win against Tottenham due to a positive Covid-19 test.
It was reported earlier this week in the Manchester Evening News that Fernandes had returned to Manchester United's Carrington training facilities. Also at Carrington on Monday morning was Luke Shaw, who had been absent for both the Tottenham victory and the 4-1 thumping by Manchester City with Covid. However, Shaw was not spotted with the rest of the squad when they arrived at the Hyatt hotel.
McTominay missed the win over the Reds because of a calf injury, but he returned to the field on Monday morning with Fernandes, Shaw, and the rest of the team. It appears that Shaw will be the lone senior player to miss the match, as Rangnick stated there was a "little question mark" over his availability.
During his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon, Rangnick revealed that "as of right now, we have all of the players available for tomorrow; there is a slight question mark behind Luke Shaw." Even though he worked out both yesterday and today, we'll have to wait and see whether he'll be ready to play on Saturday. All of the other players have returned to training and are ready to go for tomorrow.
"Fernandes? This is why he could practice today: he was checked yesterday and came back negative, so he passed."
Anthony Elanga's goal in the first leg of the tie earned Manchester United a draw, but Cristiano Ronaldo will be the star of the show when the two teams meet again on Tuesday night.
As of this writing, the Portuguese striker has scored six goals in six Champions League matches this season.
Ronaldo has scored hat-tricks against Atletico in the Champions League knockout stages with Real Madrid and Juventus, and manager Ralf Rangnick is certain his star player can replicate his match-winning exploits from the weekend.
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When asked if he was concerned about Ronaldo returning to the field three days after a hard encounter, Rangnick responded, "I'm not worried about it." "I'm not concerned about the fact that he hasn't been able to heal fully so far. When it comes to his own health and well-being, he's always been a self-conscious someone who understands exactly what to do. So that's not anything I'm concerned about.
"We'll see what happens if he can score another three goals. Scoring three goals against this team is not an easy task in the slightest. His total performance was excellent, in fact, it was outstanding, and this is clearly what we expect from him again tomorrow night."
According to Rangnick, "it's not just about Cristiano; it's about the whole squad." "In Madrid, we witnessed in the first half what we shouldn't do and how we shouldn't play, and we took notes. It's something we discussed prior to the game about what would happen tomorrow. We must first understand what is required, and then it is a matter of energy.
This is especially vital when playing against a side like Atletico Madrid, who don't care who has possession of the ball and who have had less than 50 percent possession of the ball in their last five games. So we are aware of this and must make every effort to ensure that we do not surrender at all. However, it is critical that we score the opening goal ourselves as soon as possible.
In the game on Saturday, we were the team that genuinely wanted to win; our supporters played an important role in recognizing how much we wanted to win, and we will be in the same position tomorrow."
There was a lot of talk before that game, so it's tough for me to give a definitive response to that issue." He demonstrated what sort of professional player he is, as well as what kind of level he is still capable of playing at. Performances such as the one he put in are critical for us; he is still a very vital player for this squad and has the ability to make a difference for them.
Furthermore, if he replicates his performance against Tottenham on Wednesday, it would be beneficial for us moving forward. "
Members of the United squad who have been confirmed
De Gea, Heaton, Henderson; Bailly, Dalot, Jones, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles, Varane, Wan-Bissaka; Fernandes, Fred, Mata, Matic, McTominay, Pogba; Cavani, Elanga, Lingard, Rashford, Ronaldo, Sancho; Cavani, Elanga, Lingard, Rashford, Ronaldo, Sancho; Cavani, Elanga, Lingard,
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