Ralf Rangnick receives injury boost as Manchester United star expected to return for Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has been unable to field Luke Shaw in his starting line-up in recent games after the defender tested positive to COVID-19. However, it looks like the wait will soon be over, with the Englishman highly likely to make a return to the team in the coming days.

Ralf Rangnick has revealed that Luke Shaw has finally tested negative for the coronavirus but still carries some symptoms. The tactician has ruled the left-back out of Manchester United's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday (March 12).

The interim boss, however, expects Shaw to be back in action when they face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday. The German said via the club's official website:

“Luke [Shaw] will still be out, until yesterday [Thursday], he was still testing positive [for Covid] even though he was negative today. Without having trained and having some symptoms, it doesn’t make sense to have him in the squad for this game. Hopefully, he will be a candidate for Tuesday but, for Saturday’s game, he will be out."

Ralf Rangnick also provided a fitness update on a couple of other Manchester United players ahead of the Tottenham clash. The tactician has ruled out Scott McTominay, who is currently nursing a calf injury, while opening the door for Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani to return to action.

"There’s also a question mark behind Scott McTominay. He had some calf problems after training yesterday [Thursday] and the day before yesterday, so we didn’t let him train. Currently, I don’t want to take the risk in playing him with this kind of injury so those two will probably be out." he continued.

"[But] Edi was training last week and Cristiano had his first training session yesterday and he will be training today [Friday]. They both, after yesterday’s training session, told us that they have no problems anymore, so they should both be available for the game,” finished Rangnick.

Luke Shaw will sit out today's clash with Tottenham Hotspur

Ralf Rangnick's record as Manchester United manager so far

Since being appointed as interim manager by Manchester United in December last year, Ralf Rangnick has been in charge of 18 games across all competitions so far. His record stands at eight victories, seven draws and three defeats.

As it stands, the Red Devils occupy the fifth position in the Premier League table with 47 points from 28 games. They are already out of both the FA and EFL Cups but will have a chance to reach the Champions League quarterfinals if they beat Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.