Cristiano Ronaldo will not be involved in Portugal’s Nations League game against Switzerland on Sunday after being left out of the squad.
The Manchester United star scored a brace in the 4-0 reverse victory last week, but this time around he will be given rest.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the game, Portugal manager Fernando Santos said (via Manchester Evening News): “There are no physical problems. It is normal management.
“It wouldn’t make sense to have 26 players travelling if we can only play 23. It fell to these players to miss out, that’s all.”
Perhaps Santos is preparing Ronaldo for what life might be like under Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
The Portuguese talisman is 37 now and shouldn’t be expected to play every week, which only backs the views that United need to sign a goalscorer this summer. Some people at the club think our problems in attack could be fixed if Ten Hag can get some of our attacking players back to their best.
That’s a big ask for certain players.
It’s also good news for United that Ronaldo isn’t playing every minute of every game for Portugal. He needs to be managed going forward and I hope he understands that.