Cristiano Ronaldo pays tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson after Manchester United win
Cristiano Ronaldo scored in Manchester United’s win over Burnley in front of a watching Sir Alex Ferguson.
Sir Alex was at Old Trafford ahead of celebrating his 80th birthday today and saw fans unfurl a new tribute banner in his honour.
Sir Alex Ferguson is English football’s most successful ever manager, leading United to a staggering 13 titles between 1986 and 2013.
The Scot is now enjoying his retirement and is still a regular in attendance at Old Trafford, playing a key role in helping United to re-sign Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo netted United’s third in the 3-1 win and after the victory he posted a message on Instagram wishing his former manager a happy birthday, sharing a picture of the pair together from several years ago.
Ronaldo and Sir Alex spent time together in a pre-Christmas feature for MUTV and the Portuguese star spoke highly of his former gaffer.
Ronaldo said: “It’s difficult, you understand. Imagine you’re an 18-year-old, you arrive from Sporting and you play with the stars: Giggs, Scholes, Keane, Solskjaer.
“I was a little bit nervous but he helped me a lot by the communication. He called me sometimes to his office with the translator there, but it doesn’t matter. The important thing is to tell me things to help me to grow up like a person, like a player, and since day one, everything that he told me did. So I appreciate that a lot.
“I always say that for me he’s like a father for me in football.”
The United star is charging up the club’s all time top scorers charts since returning to the club, going from 18th on the list to 13th, and he still has plenty left in the tank at 36. Hopefully Sir Alex at 80 has a long future ahead too.
- Report: Manchester United reach agreement in principle to sign former Manchester City youngster
- Manchester United set to lose race to sign £55m wonderkid according to Romano
- 3 things we learned about Erik ten Hag from Manchester United’s opening game
- 'Leading option'… Manchester United make move for Juventus midfielder as De Jong alternative
- £31m Manchester United star has big part to play despite Ten Hag opening day snub
- Manchester United target said Red Devils star on 'another planet' and was criticised by Neville
- Laporta tells two Barcelona players to leave and makes Frenkie de Jong statement amid Manchester United reports
- 19 passes completed in 79 minutes: Manchester United star is simply not good enough
- 5 reasons Manchester United lost 2-1 to Brighton on opening day of the season
