"I wasn’t surprised" - Dutchman claims Erik ten Hag won battle with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United

Dutch football coach Fred Rutten claims that Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag won the 'battle' with Cristiano Ronaldo following their spat.

The Portuguese fell out of favor with the club and the manager after an explosive interview with Piers Morgan just before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the interview, he criticized the club's outdated training facilities and accused Ten Hag of betraying him.

That led to the Red Devils terminating his contract, and Ronaldo then joined Saudi Arabia side Al-Nassr in December.

Rutten, who worked alongside Ten Hag at FC Twente earlier in his career, wasn't surprised that the fall-out ended the way it did with the Dutchman winning.

Speaking to Voetbal International, he said (via Sport Witness):

“He’s a winner. I’ve always seen a manager in him. He has an opinion, and he can often substantiate that opinion well. Once we started talking about football, it never stopped."

“That eventually ended in us going on holiday together with the families. Then we stood in the sea talking for an hour and a half."

Reflecting on his conversations with the Manchester United coach on his approach towards big stars, Rutten further added:

“Before he signed for Man Utd we had a few chats. ‘How do you deal with big stars?’ He has a plan and in the execution of that plan: if things don’t go as they should, he intervenes."

“So immediately confront the players. I wasn’t surprised that Erik would come out as the winner (vs Ronaldo).”

Ten Hag's tenure as the Red Devils' manager started off on a poor note, losing his opening two games. But he has since turned the fortunes of the club around and guided them to fourth place and the Carabao Cup in February, United's first piece of silverware since 2017.

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Manchester United looking to end season with FA Cup triumph and Champions League spot

With the Carabao Cup already in the bag, Manchester United are looking to complete a cup double by winning the FA Cup too, having reached the finals.

However, they face derby rivals Manchester City in the showpiece clash, and the Sky Blues are on a terrific run of form right now.

Qualifying for the Champions League is also on their agenda as United are currently fourth in the standings, holding a six-point lead over Tottenham Hotspur with two games in hand.