Manchester United manager Eric ten Hag confirmed on Friday that Cristiano Ronaldo refused to appear as a substitute in Wednesday's match against Tottenham. He further said that for this the star footballer will have to face the consequences.
The 37-year-old headed to the locker room before the final whistle at Old Trafford before full-time after leaving the bench and headed for the tunnel in the 89th minute of United's 2-0 win.
Ronaldo has since been omitted from Manchester United's squad for the trip to play Chelsea on Saturday. He trained away from the first team on Friday.
Ten Hag said Ronaldo "remains an important part of the squad."
However, the manager also added that Ronaldo had to be disciplined for the sake of the culture within the team, having already been critical of the player and some of his teammates for leaving a preseason friendly against Rayo Vallecano early in July.
"I have to set standards and values, and control them," Ten Hag said.
"I set a warning at the start of the season, and the next time there have to be consequences. Otherwise, when you are living together when you are playing together — and football is a team sport — you have to fulfill certain standards and I have to control it."
- Ronaldo explained his behaviour in the Tottenham game on his social media handle:
"I've always tried to set the example myself for the youngsters that grew in all the teams that I've represented," Ronaldo wrote on Instagram.
"Unfortunately that's not always possible and sometimes the heat of the moment (gets) the best of us."
