Ralf Rangnick has revealed what he told an angry Cristiano Ronaldo after he decided to substitute the forward during Manchester United's 3-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Click through the gallery above to see Ronaldo's reaction to being subbed.
The 36-year-old was taken off after 71 minutes in the Red Devils' victory on the road, not long after Bruno Fernandes' square pass teed up Mason Greenwood for a simple finish to make the score 2-0.
Ronaldo did not hide his frustration at being substituted for Harry Maguire, who was introduced by Rangnick for the sake of solidifying United's lead. As the game continued, the German tactician and five-time Ballon d'Or winner could be seen in conversation on the sidelines.
In a post-match press conference, Rangnick was asked about the detail of those discussions.
"He was asking, 'Why me and why do you take me off?'" he said, according to Manchester Evening News.
"I said, 'Listen, I have to take the decision in the interest of the team and the club and we had exactly the same situation five days ago at Villa Park, being 2-0 up with 15 minutes to play and we didn't want to make the same mistake again.'
"I decided to switch to a back five with Harry Maguire and bring on Marcus as another fast winger on the right-hand side and I think it was the right decision.
Have you seen Ronaldo's R422 million personalised jet? Have a look at it in the gallery below:
"Cristiano was not happy. He's a goalscorer, he wished to stay on and maybe score himself. But, for us, it was more important to be compact, that we had enough legs and enough strong headers to defend their free-kicks and set-pieces.
"When we scored the third, I said exactly that to him and I said, 'Look Cristiano, I understand you're still ambitious and want to score yourself, maybe in a couple of years when you're a head coach yourself you will hopefully take the same decision and be in the same role I was today after 75 minutes.'
"I didn't expect him to hug me after being substituted. I know goalscoring players, how they think, and I have to take my decisions in the interests of the team and the club and this is exactly what I told him.
"I have no issues whatsoever with Cristiano but again, he came back from a little injury, he didn't train for one-and-a-half weeks, and being 2-0 up with 15 minutes to play, having players like Marcus on the bench and even Anthony Martial, why should I not make use of that? And that's why I would always do it again in a situation like that.
"I've been here now for six weeks, I've never had any kind of issue with Cristiano. We spoke before the cup game against Aston Villa, and before the league game against Aston Villa he had an issue with his hip flexor and we agreed between the two of us it would be better that he has no problems with that kind of injury anymore, that's why he was not part of the squad in those two games.
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"Today, he was available today and that's why I played him from the start. No issues whatsoever. For the future, the most important thing is we win games and this is first."
