GARY PALLISTER insists Cristiano Ronaldo must get used to being benched at Manchester United.
That’s despite the veteran scoring a match-winning hat-trick against Tottenham on Saturday.
Ronnie, 37, fired out a message to interim boss Ralf Rangnick when his stunning treble at the weekend kept United’s top four hopes alive.
Ronaldo had reportedly been dismayed to discover he was being left out of the Manchester derby earlier this month.
But the striker didn’t even end up making the bench after picking up an injury, watching on from Portugal as United lost 4-1 to their rivals.
Ronaldo is now expected to start tonight’s Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid following his exploits against Spurs.
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But ex-Red Devil Pallister believes Ronaldo must respect any future decisions to leave him on the bench, explaining even the likes of legendary winger Ryan Giggs ended up playing less as they got older.
Pallister told BoyleSports EPL Betting: “At 37 going on 38, I think you would expect not to play every game.
“Ryan Giggs, who was one of the biggest legends Man United ever had, understood that.
“It doesn’t mean you have to agree with it but you have to respect the manager’s decision.
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“If Sir Alex had done it, Cristiano Ronaldo might be more at ease with it.”
However, Pallister does believe the Portugal ace remains United’s key man for the big occasions.
He added: “It was interesting to see Cristiano come back after so much conjecture in the press during the week that he left the country and went back to Portugal.
“There were suggestions he had the hump that he wasn’t involved in the City game, but what a way to answer your critics.
“If you’re putting the problem [at United] down to Cristiano then you’re widely off the mark.
“Is he the same man that wreaked havoc at Real Madrid? No, probably not, but in and around the box he’s still as dangerous as anybody.
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“He’s got that ability to crack it on from 30 yards, we saw it the other day when the ball dipped and swerved and ended up in the back of the net.
“He hasn’t lost that ability. The spring he had for his header, that was Cristiano back to his very best, so he’s still got that in the locker.”
