Cristiano Ronaldo billed as Man Utd ‘leader’ by Erik ten Hag despite huge bust-up after storming down tunnel

CRISTIANO RONALDO has been hailed as Manchester United’s “leader” by Erik ten Hag.

That’s despite last month’s bust-up in which Ronaldo stormed down the tunnel against Tottenham.

The Portugal legend looked to be on the way out at Old Trafford after his Spurs strop.

Ronnie refused to come off the bench as United recorded an impressive win over their rivals.

And he compounded the misery by driving out of the stadium before the final whistle had been blown.

Ten Hag punished Ronaldo by dropping him for the next game against Chelsea, while also cutting him from first-team training.

But the veteran has since played the full 90 minutes in each of United’s next two games against West Ham and Sheriff, scoring in the latter.

Ronaldo is now expected to start in today’s crunch Europa League group stage clash at Real Sociedad.

And it seems he has gone from zero to hero in Ten Hag’s eyes, with the Dutch tactician calling Ronaldo one of his top leaders on and off the pitch.

Ten Hag declared: “He is really professional, he’s in a group, he’s a leader-type.

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“He’s a really important part of this group and in Spain he’s a real threat to every defence, every gap he will use.”

Victory in Spain – by two goals – will see United seal top spot in their group, avoiding a dreaded play-off for the knockouts against a team coming from the Champions League.

The Red Devils are without key attacking trio Jadon Sancho, Antony and Anthony Martial.

But Ten Hag is feeling confident about his side’s chances.

He added: “We know what we have to do, two-goals difference.

“But if you want to win a trophy you have to win all the games and we have to beat everyone. 

“It’s how far you come here, you don’t speak in autumn about how far you come.

“You can’t win anything in this moment of the season. It’s game-by-game.”