Former Manchester City star, Trevor Sinclair has given some reasons Ralf Rangnick may have decided to drop Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United’s squad for their derby clash on Sunday.
Manchester City welcome their next door neighbours to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, for the Manchester derby and Sinclair reveals that City players would target Ronaldo.
The Portugal international has been sent off on two separate occasions in Manchester derbies, boasting an unwanted record as the only player to ever receive that many red cards in the heated fixture.
And interim manager, Ralf Rangnick may have put this into consideration and decided to drop the Portuguese from his 21-man squad for the crunch encounter.
Ronaldo was absent from the Manchester United squad that assembled on Saturday evening ahead of the game.
And this development has posed a huge question mark over the striker’s participation in the Manchester derby.
As is customary, Manchester United’s 21-man squad reported to The Lowry Hotel on the eve of the match, but the Portuguese and several other notable players were absent from the group that arrived.
Sinclair pointed out that Ronaldo often lost his temper against Manchester City, particularly in the early years of his Red Devils career.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Sinclair revealed his former City teammates used to target the former Real Madrid star to gain an advantage on their local rivals during derby matches.
“We were the underdogs, we were the ones that were trying to level it out a little by getting into them and [putting in] a few rough tackles,” Sinclair said.
“I remember Ronaldo getting sent off twice against Manchester City in the Manchester derby.
“He was one we earmarked before the games, obviously he’s a threat, very dangerous, young player at the time, get into him.
“And if you could leave a little bit on him, leave a little bit on him, and he did and he reacted in a bad way.
“He took two red cards in the Manchester derbies against us, so it certainly worked and it definitely made them a less of a threat without him in their side.”