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Agence France-Presse

Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed even his own expectations as he delivered on the hype of his return to Old Trafford as a Manchester United player by scoring twice in a 4-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday.
A full house reverberated to a chorus of Ronaldo chants and songs from long before kick-off as he took his tally for the club to 120 goals, 12 years on from swapping Manchester for Madrid.
The final game of the Portuguese’s first spell with the Red Devils was a Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in 2009 that signalled a changing of the guard in European football in which Ronaldo played a large part.
Barca were crowned champions of Europe again in 2011 and 2015, while a Ronaldo-inspired Real Madrid won the competition four times between 2014 and 2018.
Liverpool FC expand China coaching network with LFC International Academy Beijing
That balance of power between La Liga and the Premier League has swung again with two all-English Champions League finals in the past three years.
But they have not featured United in a sign of the club’s decline since Alex Ferguson’s retirement as manager in 2013.

The best the English giants have done since reaching a third final in four years in 2011 is two trips to the quarter-finals, where they were comprehensively dispatched by Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
In three of the eight seasons since Ferguson departed, United failed to even qualify for the Champions League.
Son Heung-min scores winner for Tottenham in 200th English Premier League game but misses milestone
However, the recruitment of the competition’s greatest ever goalscorer, added to the signings of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with few excuses left for failure in Europe.
The Norwegian landed the job as United manager largely based on the folklore of him scoring United’s most famous Champions League goal to beat Bayern Munich in the 1999 final.
But as manager, he has failed to win the Europa League with by a distance the biggest budget in the competition in the past two seasons, and crashed out at the group stage of last season’s Champions League.
United’s latest European campaign gets underway in Switzerland on Tuesday against Young Boys with Solskjaer’s men in need of a winning start with tougher tests against Villarreal, who beat United in last season’s Europa League final, and Atalanta to come.
“We have a fantastic team, a young team, with a fantastic coach but we have to build up confidence,” said Ronaldo after his dream double against Newcastle.
“The team needs to be mature if we want to win the league and the Champions League but we are in a good way and I am here to help the team.”

Ronaldo is just the latest weapon in an attacking artillery that makes Solskjaer’s squad the envy of most coaches across the continent.
Mason Greenwood and £73 million-signing Sancho flanked the five-time Ballon d’Or winner on Saturday with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba providing the ammunition from midfield.
Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Donny van de Beek started on the bench with Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani still to return from injury.
“We know what a goalscorer he is,” said Solskjaer on Ronaldo. “He senses the moments and comes alive.
“But it’s not only Cristiano. Mason has had a fantastic start to the season, Bruno has scored four goals already, we have Anthony and Jesse coming alive, Marcus is on his way back, Jadon is going to score goals.
“We’ve got goals, I know that, it’s about striking a balance in the rest of the setup.”
Ronaldo is back and now it is time for United to show they are too as a contender on the Champions League stage.


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English Premier League

Can Cristiano Ronaldo’s return make Manchester United a European force again?

Cristiano Ronaldo lifts off on his return to Manchester United with a brace on his second debut for the club. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo leaves after the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Newcastle at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on September 11, 2021. - Manchester United won the game 4-1. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /

epa09461825 Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 11 September 2021. EPA-EFE/PETER POWELL EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications

Hong Kong youth team star Karri Chan signs for Manchester City women under-19s

Hong Kong’s Karri Chan (centre) celebrates with teammates in an under-15s friendly game against Japan in 2019. Photo: East Asian Football Federation

Hong Kong women's U-18s footballer Sneha Limbu poses with teammates ahead of a national game against Guam. Photo: Handout

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return a boost to Manchester United in China if not the English Premier League

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring against West Ham United in the English Premier League in 2008. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester United - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - August 29, 2021 Manchester United fans celebrate with a cardboard cut out of Cristiano Ronaldo after the match Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details./File Photo

Sport

Football

Pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to deliver after another sizable outlay by the club’s owners


Pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to deliver after another sizable outlay by the club’s owners.


Uefa Champions League

Cristiano Ronaldo

Can Cristiano Ronaldo’s return make Manchester United a European force again?

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to deliver after another sizable outlay by the club’s owners

Pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to deliver after another sizable outlay by the club’s owners