Cristiano Ronaldo left Old Trafford before full time: How football reacted

Cristiano Ronaldo left Old Trafford before the final whistle on Wednesday night in open defiance of manager Erik ten Hag’s instructions that players cannot leave the ground early.

Ten Hag said he would “deal” with Ronaldo on Thursday after the forward walked out of the dugout and down the tunnel to the dressing room before the end of United’s resounding 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

In an apparent show of petulance Ronaldo, who was an unused substitute, left the bench with 30 seconds of the 90 minutes and a further five minutes of injury time still to play and clearly without Ten Hag’s permission. The manager had only used three of his substitutes.

It emerged on Thursday morning that Ronaldo not only disappeared from the substitutes’ bench before the final whistle but also left Old Trafford before the game was over, less than 12 weeks after being rebuked by Ten Hag for doing something similar during a pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano.

On that occasion, the 37-year-old – who was desperate to leave United in the summer – played the first period before being substituted at half-time in what was his first appearance of pre-season after missing the club’s tour of Thailand and Australia for personal reasons.

Ronaldo was not the only player to leave early in that instance, with Ten Hag making it clear in a subsequent television interview that such behaviour was “unacceptable” and that he expected all players to stay until the end.

Asked about Ronaldo’s behaviour on Wednesday night, Ten Hag said the matter would be dealt with.

“I have seen him [leaving], I didn’t speak to him after. I will deal with that tomorrow,” Ten Hag said. “Today I enjoyed this performance we are celebrating this victory and now we have to recover from this and we have a big game against Chelsea [on Saturday].”

When asked again whether he had spoken to Ronaldo, Ten Hag reiterated: “No, I don’t pay attention today. I will deal with it tomorrow. I want to focus on the team. It was a magnificent performance from the players.”

Ronaldo attempted to leave United during the summer window but the club did not receive an acceptable offer for him despite his agent, Jorge Mendes, trying to interest Chelsea, Bayern Munich and a number of other clubs.

Telegraph Sport reported earlier this month that Ten Hag is open to Ronaldo leaving in January if a suitable offer comes in and it is clear that the striker is no longer important to the manager’s plans.

After the Rayo game, Ten Hag criticised the focus being placed on Ronaldo, as other players also left the friendly early, but this time it was only the Portuguese international and it was during a vital Premier League game.

Ronaldo falls behind Rashford and Martial in pecking order

On Sunday, Marcus Rashford replaced Ronaldo during the 0-0 draw with Newcastle in the 72nd minute, when the five-time World Player of the Year cut a surly figure as he was substituted and did not hide his unhappiness on the bench. Rashford would probably have started the game but had been unwell in the lead up to it and was only considered fit enough for the bench.

Ronaldo was also an unused substitute for the 6-3 defeat by Manchester City when Ten Hag said he did not bring on the player “out of respect to his big career”.

Ronaldo’s opportunities are likely to become even more limited when Anthony Martial returns from injury. The France striker has been plagued by injury issues so far this season but is closing on a return.

Questions have long been asked about where Ronaldo would feature in Ten Hag’s plans. Ten Hag explained his choice of Rashford over Ronaldo against Spurs as follows. “Against this Tottenham you need good pressing, you need good counter-press...Offensive-wise you need dynamic and that is what Marcus gives. You saw that in the last 20 minutes against Newcastle when he came on.”

There will be frustration at United, and with Ten Hag, that the most impressive display of the campaign was overshadowed by Ronaldo’s behaviour. “It was the best team performance so far this season,” Ten Hag said. “Once again it was a squad performance. We deal with that [Ronaldo] tomorrow. What we have seen today was 11 players who defend and 11 players who attack. There was a lot of dynamic. I am not totally satisfied because good is not good enough."

Ronaldo storms out: How football reacted

Ronaldo’s actions received widespread condemnation from football pundits across Amazon Prime and Sky Sports, with accusations of disrespecting his team-mates and showing he wants out in January as well as the suggestion that it proved he believes he is bigger than the club.

Gary Lineker

"We all know what a great player he has been but walking off the pitch as a substitute two minutes before the game has finished...I'm sorry, that is unacceptable. That is poor."

Neil Warnock

"I think it actually helped Ten Hag because now he has sympathy and he can't go wrong.

"It was good for the manager – but I wouldn't have talked to [Ronaldo]. I'd have praised the lads and then flippantly said to Ronaldo, I'll see you in the morning at 10am, so it ruins his day off."

Dion Dublin

“I’d probably want to get him around the throat and say ‘what are you doing?’”

“It’s out of order. I love Ronaldo, I've got a lot of respect for him. I think he should be getting more minutes and think he can make a difference more than most. However, the game’s still going on, your team-mates are still playing.

“It basically says ‘I don’t really care’. For me in the dressing room it says ‘I’m off’ and ‘I don’t really care about my team-mates’. I know he does and I know he’s passionate for playing for Man United, but tonight I think he’s massively in the wrong."

Gabriel Agbonlahor

"Ronaldo is a spoilt brat, let's be honest,"

"He's 37, he's had the best career and is probably one of the best players to play the game. Your team, who you're meant to love, are playing the best football that they've played in years and absolutely battered Spurs.

"To walk down the tunnel like that, for me, is a disgrace. You can't do that. It's so disrespectful to your team-mates and if I'm the players in the changing room with Ronaldo after the game and find out about it, I want my manager to make a statement. I'd leave Ronaldo out of the Chelsea game."

"It's disrespectful. Yes, he's one of the best and scored 700 goals but you can't disrespect your team-mates. He made it about him."

Alan Shearer

“Would I be stirring if I said Bruno [Fernandes] looks happier in this team without Ronaldo?

“I just look at his performance tonight and his energy and look at his leadership and the qualities he has offered both defensively and offensively and he has done so much for them in this performance tonight. He deserved that goal.”

Tim Sherwood

“I think it’s quite shocking. [Erik] Ten Hag made all his changes and Ronaldo has just gone down the tunnel.

“It’s a public show of dissent against the manager. It’s not a good look, in my opinion. I’m quite angry about it. I love Ronaldo but I think there are ways you go about it.

“He [Ten Hag] talked about in the Manchester derby about not putting him on the pitch because he wanted to show him respect, and I feel Ronaldo’s shown him a lack of disrespect by walking down the tunnel.”

Danny Mills

“I think that’s disrespectful to the team, to the manager, to the fans. They’re winning 2-0 – what complaint can he have with this? If they were losing 2-0 it still wouldn’t have been right but I could sort of understand it. He clearly thinks he’s bigger than the football club. That’s absolutely disgraceful.

“It’s a bit selfish and he’s done it because he’s not involved. He knows full well that everyone’s going to see him because you know what it’s like at Old Trafford, you’ve got to walk all the way down the touchline – it’s not like you can just sneak out on the halfway line – you’ve got to walk 50-60 yards and  he knows everyone is going to see him. I feel sorry for United and for Ten Hag because that's an outstanding result against a top side and all it’s going to be about is Ronaldo."