Ralf Rangnick is hoping for more of the same from Cristiano Ronaldo when the Manchester United striker faces old rivals Atletico Madrid.
A place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League is at stake on Tuesday night when Los Rojiblancos head to Old Trafford, with the tie poised at 1-1 and United in buoyant mood after downing Tottenham.
Ronaldo hit his first Premier League hat-trick since January 2008 on the weekend and has an impressive record against Atletico, scoring 25 goals across 36 meetings - including four trebles.
“Well, I'm not worried that [Ronaldo] has not been able to recover,” Rangnick told reporters on Monday. “So far he's always been a person who looks quite a lot after himself, his body and he exactly knows what to do, so I'm not worried about that.
“If he can score another three goals, we will see. I mean, it's not so easy to score three goals against this team at all.
“I think his overall performance was just good, if not even very good and this is obviously what we hope to get from him again tomorrow night. But it's not just about Cristiano, it's about the whole team.”
Bruno Fernandes is fit for United after missing the Tottenham clash due to Covid-19, as are Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay. Rangnick is therefore expected to make adjustments to his team.
“I have to make that decision by tomorrow so it's possible we have some new players in the starting XI, but there is not that much reason to change too many positions,” he added.
“We will see. To start with, it's good to have everybody available, that's better than missing out five or six players.”
