Rio Ferdinand revealed the text message he received from former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in the wake of his winner against Villarreal last night.
For long spells of the game at Old Trafford on Wednesday, it seemed as if CR7 just wasn’t at the races as United struggled to really get out ahead of their Spanish opponents. In a showdown that was eerily similar to their Europa League final clash just a few months ago, the Red Devils fell behind before pegging draw experts Villarreal back just minutes later – leading to a tense final half-hour that saw the visitors miss a string of chances to re-take the lead.
CR7 gets it done (again)
Then, with almost the final kick of the night, the ball fell to Cristiano Ronaldo at a sharp angle inside the box and he subsequently turned it home to give Manchester United the win they needed to get their Champions League campaign up and running.
During the post-match analysis for BT Sport, Rio Ferdinand spoke about a text from Ronaldo that sums up the mentality of the Portuguese star.
“He texted me tonight saying, ”I didn’t play well but I knew I’d score”, and that’s the belief he has.
“The other players are feeding off it. It’s a great place to be.
“United’s performance today wasn’t great, it wasn’t at the level Ole wants it to be. But when you need a goal, a moment to galvanise the squad, the stadium, the fanbase, Cristiano Ronaldo steps up.
“He wants to be that guy the chance falls to. His goal record says it all. He’s there for the big moments. He’s a big part of that too.”
United will hope to build on this momentum when they host Everton in the Premier League’s early kick-off on Saturday.
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