Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United colours but did not hang around till the end of the friendly against Rayo Vallecano. Playing their first game at Old Trafford under new manager Erik Ten Hag, it is unclear whether he had permission to leave before the end. It was the 37-year-old’s first outing of a summer marked by his desperate attempts to leave Manchester. The Portuguese forward – who had skipped the club’s pre-season tour to Australia, citing family reasons- failed to make a mark on the outing but insisted he was “happy to be back” on Twitter. 

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Ten Hag gave Ronaldo a 45-minute run-out, but the highlight of his match was a brief squabble with the Dutch manager. As halftime neared, Ten Hag pulled the player aside, seemingly to point out positional errors. But Ronaldo looked frustrated, shrugging away from the Dutchman before covering his face.

Ten Hag replaced the star forward for the youthful brio of Amad Diallo. He made an instant impact, scoring off a rebound from Alex Telles’ 20-yard effort. Underwhelming otherwise, the home side allowed Rayo to equalise soon after. Guilty of lax defending, winger Isi Palazon was allowed to drift inside and take a shot from the edge of the box. United keeper Tom Heaton could only parry to Alvaro Garcia, who scored from close range. 

Speaking to the media after the match, Ten Hag seemed satisfied with the team’s progress:

“Overall I am happy; we made a good pre-season. We make good progress and we’re ready for the season but still I know there is a lot of room for improvement and we have to improve,” quotes the Guardian.

Enthused by the reception he received from the United faithful, Ten Hag stressed the necessity of building a strong connection between the team and its fans:

“The reception was fantastic. I felt the vibe in the stadium; I felt the vibe they want to send to the team. There has to be co-operation between fans and the team so we get the right emotion and, especially, the right results.,” he added.

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The friendly also saw Eriksen get his first start at United and the first glimpse of new-signing Lisandro Martinez. There was space even for the criminally underused Donny van de Beek, giving onlookers the impression of an Ajax reunion.