EPL: Why Ronaldo flew to Portugal after hearing he was benched by Man Utd

Cristiano Ronaldo complained of a hip injury and flew to Portugal — after being axed from Manchester United’s team for their derby defeat.

The superstar was stunned to be told by boss Ralf Rangnick he would not be starting against Man City.

Rangnick said he wanted fresh legs for the match and that he believed Ronaldo could make an impact from the bench.

But the United legend insisted he could do that from the start and was furious at being axed.

It is believed he hopes to help his injury with warm weather in his homeland.

SunSport understands his team-mates were surprised he did not stay at the team hotel on Saturday night.

The 37-year-old had been feeling positive in training last week and was looking forward to the Etihad clash with City.

But United interim-boss Rangnick was told by the club’s medical department on Friday that Ronaldo had a hip flexor injury.

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After yesterday’s 4-1 humiliation, Rangnick insisted: “I have to believe my medical department.

“Our doctor came to see me Friday morning before training and said Cristiano could not train because of some problems with his hip flexor and the same Saturday.”

Striker Edinson Cavani was also missing after apparently not feeling well enough to play after his recent groin problem.

Asked when they would return, Rangnick said: “I don’t know. I was hoping to have them available for this game.

“We have two important games coming up against Spurs and Atletico and we have to focus on that.”

Rumours began to swirl on social media on Saturday night that Ronaldo had pulled out of the squad.

The Instagram account that started the rumour is cr7.0_lendario — which is followed by Ronaldo.

A post claimed: “Manchester United’s manager wants to enter with a different strategy in tomorrow’s game and has chosen to defend himself more, a purely tactical choice. Ronaldo won’t even be on the bench.”

Former United captain Roy Keane added fuel to the fire pre-match, saying: “I don’t like it when the manager talks about this ‘hip flexor’. I don’t get it.

“We talk about Ronaldo being a machine, then every now and again he comes out with ‘hip flexor’. It doesn’t add up.”

When contacted by SunSport, Ronaldo’s representatives insisted it was an injury keeping him out.