Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick has finally spoken out about the incident which saw Cristiano Ronaldo smash an Everton fan's phone.
United have given themselves a mountain to climb as they lost 1-0 to relegation threatened Everton, and tensions were running high at full-time as Ronaldo stormed off the pitch. He was met with multiple jeers from an ecstatic Everton crowd, and one young fan saw his phone get smashed by the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Ronaldo has since apologised and offered to have the fan attend a United game in return, and the incident is still subject to an investigation. But Rangnick has broken his silence a week on from the altercation at Goodison Park.
United welcome Norwich to Old Trafford on Saturday, and although their last two matches were 'must win', a place in the top four would surely be out of the equation if Rangnick's side fail to claim all three points against the Canaries. Although a lot of questions were asked about United's Champions League hopes, Rangnick was also asked about Ronaldo.
In his pre-match press conference, Rangnick was asked if he's spoken to Ronaldo about the incident. The German said: "No. I think he apologised in public on social media for what happened. As far as I know there is still an investigation ongoing, both from the police and the FA, but apart from that, I haven’t spoken about that with him."
The United boss also confirmed that Ronaldo would be fit to play against Norwich after nursing an injury at full-time against Everton. But Ronaldo will be hoping to put that behind him and inspire a victory at Old Trafford to get back to winning ways.
Rangnick claimed it "should be unthinkable" that United would lose to Norwich off the back of a poor defeat to Everton, as he added: "It should be unthinkable, but we all know in football things like that can happen. This is what makes this ball game so interesting. You never know what the outcome might be.
"But as I said, I am pretty positive that we will show a reaction tomorrow. This has to happen, we have to show that we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our supporters, we owe that to the whole club.
"It is definitely a test of character but we have to be aware that if we invest enough energy into that game with regard to total distance, sprints, fast runs… if we are tactically prepared for that game, which we will do, we always do that, we will give them the best possible game plan. we will try to with regard to formation and line-up to start with the best possible team.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do Manchester United have any chance of finishing in the top four this season? Comment below.
"We will try to with regard to formation and line-up to start with the best possible team. Then it’s up to the players to show on the pitch that they are still ambitious, and they want to finish the season on the highest and best possible note."
United are already six points off the top four, and if Tottenham beat Brighton in Saturday's early kick-off then the gap could be increased to nine. And with only seven games to go, that will take an almighty swing to overturn.
And if United aren't careful, they'll miss out on Europe all together, as they are currently sat outside of every European place in seventh. However, they have a game in hand on West Ham, who have surely turned their attention elsewhere after making the Europa League semi-final.
