Cristiano Ronaldo STARTS for Man Utd at Brentford as Erik ten Hag turns to wantaway star to kickstart season | The Sun

CRISTIANO RONALDO returns to the Manchester United starting line-up for their clash with Brentford.

The Portuguese superstar, 37, was benched for the opening game of the campaign against Brighton last weekend – which the Red Devils went on to lose 2-1 at Old Trafford.


But now new manager Erik ten Hag has decided to put him back into the side as he replaces midfielder Scott McTominay.

Ten Hag has gone with the same back five in David de Gea, Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw.

Christian Eriksen drops back to the midfield against his former club after playing as a false nine against Brighton.

Fred and Bruno Fernandes join the Dane in the middle of the park.

And Ronaldo is flanked up front by Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho – who are both in need of an upturn in form.

Ronaldo played just 45 minutes in pre-season after he confirmed he wants to leave Man Utd in search of Champions League football.

However, he has failed to find a route out of the club with less than three weeks left of the transfer window.

He came on as a substitute against Brighton but failed to prevent Ten Hag from suffering defeat in his first Premier League game in charge.

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Now the Dutchman will be hoping Ronaldo can inspire his team to victory against Thomas Frank's side.

Brentford present a tough challenge for United after coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Leicester on the opening weekend.

Frank's side were beaten home and away by United last season, but will smell blood heading into Saturday's encounter.

Man Utd XI: De Gea; Dalot, Martinez, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Eriksen, Fernandes; Sancho, Ronaldo, Rashford.

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