Ronaldo in for United
Cristiano Ronaldo put his personal grief to one side and stepped back into the heat of Champions League battle for Manchester United tonight.
After missing Saturday’s Old Trafford derby draw with City on compassionate grounds following the death of his father, Ronaldo returned to training unannounced on Monday and Alex Ferguson wasted no time in restoring the Portugal winger to his starting line-up.
Ronaldo’s introduction in place of Park Ji-sung was Ferguson’s only change as the Red Devils opened their latest European quest against a Villarreal side containing popular United old-boy Diego Forlan but not star man Juan Roman Riquelme, who failed to shrug off an ankle injury.
Villarreal: Barbosa, Javi Venta, Rodriguez, Quique Alvarez, Arruabarrena, Riquelme, Josico, Senna, Sorin, Forlan, Figueroa. Subs: Lopez Vallejo, Guayre, Hector Font, Kromkamp, Tacchinardi, Santi Cazorla, Pena.
Man Utd: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Fletcher, Scholes, Smith, Ronaldo, van Nistelrooy, Rooney. Subs: Howard, Giggs, Park, Miller, Richardson, Bardsley, Pique.
Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)
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