Cristiano Ronaldo is primed to make his Manchester United comeback this weekend against Newcastle.
Newcastle have had a win-less start to the season, with one draw and two defeats.
The sight of a returning Cristiano Ronaldo is less than ideal for them, to say the least.
Ronaldo is still going strong at 36, finishing as Serie A’s Golden Boot winner last season, and also won the Euro 2020 Golden Boot.
Great record v Newcastle
Cristiano Ronaldo has a pretty impressive record against Newcastle from his first spell at Manchester United.
Ronaldo boast 11 goal contributions in 11 games against the Geordies, with six goals and five assists.
United have won 10 of these matches, drawing the other. The omens look pretty one-sided for this weekend, mixing in the current form of the two sides too.
Ronaldo’s last match against Newcastle
Ronaldo’s last match against Newcastle was 2-1 away win in April 2009.
Peter Lovenkrands scored Newcastle’s opener after nine minutes, before Wayne Rooney equalised on 20 minutes from a John O’Shea assist.
Dimitar Berbatov scored United’s winner, set up by Park Ji-Sung, on a generally quiet afternoon for Ronaldo, who was nearing the end of his United spell.
Ronaldo’s last home match against Newcastle
The last time Cristiano Ronaldo faced Newcastle at Old Trafford was a truly memorable one for anybody in attendance.
In December 2008, Ronaldo smashed a hat-trick past a hapless Newcastle side to inspire a 6-0 victory. The first goal came from a direct free-kick, with the other two coming from open play.
Carlos Tevez also scored twice while Rio Ferdinand was a rare name on the scoresheet.
This game was Ronaldo’s first ever hat-trick for Manchester United, with the forward completing his three-goal haul in the 88th minute.
Newcastle’s side that day featured Ronaldo’s number seven replacement Michael Owen, and Ronaldo’s former United teammates Alan Smith and Nicky Butt. James Milner is the only member of that side still playing in the Premier League.
Ronaldo’s first game against Newcastle
Ronaldo’s first ever game against Newcastle back in September 2003, and he began it on the bench.
He came on with 14 minutes to go, replacing Ryan Giggs, surprisingly, with Eric Djemba-Djemba lasting all 90 minutes.
Alan Shearer had put Newcastle 1-0 up, before second half goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes won it for Manchester United.
Current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had started up front for United alongside Van Nistelrooy, with Diego Forlan later replacing him.
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