“The ball had to go to him to win” - Ex-Manchester United star on playing with Cristiano Ronaldo during controversial second spell

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021 with hopes of spurring the side to glory once more but found things to be much-changed. Former Red Devil Juan Mata has spoken with FourFourTwo about his relationship with the Portuguese great and how Ronaldo influenced things at the club.

Following six years at Old Trafford in 2009, Ronaldo left the club as arguably the world's best player to join Real Madrid. He enjoyed a hugely successful career since then and decided in 2021 he was going to return to the English giants from Juventus.

At the point of his return, Spanish midfielder Juan Mata had become a fringe player at the club but revealed that he chose to stay on because of him. With only nine starts in 2020-21, the midfielder had offers to leave but opted to extend his stay at Manchester United.

Mata revealed that the thought of the Red Devils challenging for the Premier League title with Cristiano Ronaldo after he left was something he could not bear. The Spaniard said that he thought the side could win the league due to the incredible standards of the Portuguese legend, but it did not come to pass, unfortunately.

“I thought we could win the Premier League again. He had such high standards that he could drag the rest with him. I always thought that when it came to the 80th minute of a game, the ball had to go to him to win. He always appeared in decisive moments. However, circumstances around him prevented him from getting more quality minutes in his second season. I connected with Cristiano, during many conversations. He’s a much closer person than people imagine.”

Cristiano Ronaldo fell out with manager Erik ten Hag and terminated his contract mutually in December 2022, months after Mata had left for Galatasaray. The 39-year-old forward has since been at Al-Nassr, where he has continued to show his remarkable quality.

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Cristiano Ronaldo's displeasure justified as videos emerge of Old Trafford during the Arsenal-Manchester United game

In 2022, Cristiano Ronaldo made several damning revelations about the state of Manchester United as a club, particularly the infrastructure and executives. The revelations, along with several other issues raised in his interview with Piers Morgan, proved to be the end of his stay at the club.

Nearly two years on, the significance of his revelations was made known as the state of Old Trafford was revealed. The Red Devils faced rivals Arsenal on a rainy evening in the Premier League, and the roof of their famed 'Theatre of Dreams' was seriously leaking.

This resulted in fans calling out Manchester United for mismanagement of its edifice, which is one of the most iconic stadia in England. This follows Ronaldo's complaints about the state of the training facilities at the club, and piles on the embarrassment to the club.

New part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was said to have been irate with the staff about their management of the club last month. The latest revelation shows how much work the British billionaire has to do to repair the club's rafters literally and figuratively.