Fans of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Lionel Messi have slammed arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo for walking off into the Old Trafford tunnel before the final whistle during Manchester United's 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspurs on Wednesday.
Legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo has sparked a massive outburst among football enthusiasts and pundits after the Manchester United icon stormed off down the tunnel before the final whistle during the Red Devils' 2-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspurs on Wednesday.
The Portuguese talisman's behaviour has been dubbed as 'unacceptable, selfish and disrespectful', with several observers questioning if the 37-year-old thinks he is greater than the club itself.
Ronaldo walking off, 🥲🥺🥺 pic.twitter.com/1UwFV4zC9K
— i follow back (@_Wilson_19)United boss Ten Hag was asked about Ronaldo's decision to leave the game in the 90th minute at Old Trafford. The Dutchman told Amazon Prime Video Sport, "I will deal with that tomorrow", while effectively confirming that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner hadn't been granted permission to head back to the dressing room.
In the meantime, fans of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Lionel Messi have heavily criticised the Argentinian icon's arch-rival Ronaldo and his appalling behaviour during Wednesday's Premier League clash. "This is why Messi is GOAT," noted one fan on Twitter as he shared footage of the Portugual superstar storming down the tunnel after cutting a frustrated figure while waiting for his turn to be substituted.
"Ronaldo getting up off the bench and walking down the tunnel with 5 minutes left sums that crying ass up these days just because your Ronaldo and you've had a great career you can't do that it's disrespecting your manager an team mates doing that. Messi would never do that!!" said another fan of the former Barcelona legend.
The Ronaldo vs Messi debate is endless, and fans of the two legends of football latch on to the slightest opportunity to prove their point. "This is why I rate Messi above Ronaldo… the arrogance and disrespect. That's the second time this season walking off angrily," said one fan of the Argentinian legend in response to the Manchester United icon's behaviour that has stunned the world of football.
"At this stage we can all agree on one thing, Ronaldo is bigger than Manchester United. Messi would never ever do this, leave the stadium. Soo unprofessional," stated another Messi fan on Twitter.
Here's a look at what Messi fans had to say about Ronaldo's behaviour on Wednesday night:
Ronaldo is embarrassing 😭 Walking off before final whistle with his team winning 💀 This is why Messi is the GOAT 🐐
pic.twitter.com/uGP28Z45ab
Ronaldo walking off before the final whistle cuz he couldn't stand the fact that his team function better without him. If this was Messi.....
pic.twitter.com/2OgewPpcG7
Ronaldo is disgustingg! My God! Your team is winning but you sulking and walking off because your worn-out, lazy asss was deservedly benched. https://t.co/8zEQrhkIOU
— Delegate Onyema 🇧🇭 (@OnyiiKaluUmex)Ronaldo getting up off the bench and walking down the tunnel with 5 minutes left sums that crying ass up these days just because your Ronaldo and you’ve had a great career you can’t do that it’s disrespecting your manager an team mates doing that. Messi would never do that!!
— ryan Milner (@ryanmilner93)This is why I rate Messi above Ronaldo… the arrogance and disrespect. That’s the second time this season walking off angrily.
— Mo Graph Artist (@bnbs_a)Ronaldo is labelled as a leader because he clapped and shouted his teammates in a few games, but then he does things like these and we are suposed to act like nothing happened.
If this was Messi you wouldn't hear the end of it. pic.twitter.com/W05EUBi0fJ
Forget about he’s 37 or 35 Who is the real GOAT
Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi
❤️ 🔁 pic.twitter.com/lO1lxOulUB
Am a big Messi fan but seeing Cristiano Ronaldo disrespected upto this level is unacceptable. U make him warm up in first half and later bench him the whole match. This is total disrespect pic.twitter.com/ve19EuKMeH
— 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 ⚡️ (@Toothpaste__1)At this stage we can all agree on one thing, Ronaldo is bigger than Manchester United.
Messi would never ever do this, leave the stadium. Soo unprofessional 😒
Meanwhile, CR7 fans fumed at Erik ten Hag for 'disrespecting' their hero and believed that the Dutchman must shoulder some of the blame in this scenario. An image from the 87th minute shows Ronaldo looking on glumly as the United boss sent on Anthony Elanga instead of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Jadon Sancho was replaced in the last seconds by Elanga, even though Ronaldo was wearing an orange bib, indicating he had been told to warm up. Additionally, Ten Hag substituted Christian Eriksen for Casemiro after pulling Antony in favour of Scott McTominay earlier.
Here's a look at what CR7 loyalists had to say about the situation during United's win against Antonio Conte's men:
This broke my heart 💔. Just look at him. pic.twitter.com/HuRnVEvktq
— Preeti (@MadridPreeti)Cristiano Ronaldo has been Super professional this season, Ten Hag has shown nothing but disrespect to him.
Made Ronaldo warmup 2 Times only to bring Elanga on, happened in Liverpool game as well where he brought Martial and Fred before him. pic.twitter.com/XgkUY31lT6
Ten Hag really told Cristiano Ronaldo to warm up and ended up leaving him on the bench.
If this is not disrespect, I don't even know what it is anymore. pic.twitter.com/0CWZUIcFCi
I feel your pain. pic.twitter.com/IooauuVqVO
— ً (@erlingtxt)Ten Hag before the game said Ronaldo will play and then he goes on to give him 0 minutes and disrespects him by bringing Elanga on before him.
Ronaldo absolutely did the right thing. He should have walked down the tunnel way before.
I absolutely love Ronaldo for walking out before the game even ended.
You don't get to disrespect him like that.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been disrespected by Man U. It's shocking how Erik ten Hag is treating him. Elanga gets in on the left side of attack when CR7 is on the bench? Who does that? The British media can gang up against him all they want but they cannot take away his Greatness. https://t.co/dWGEKVIfg6
— Ian Zvoma (@ianzvoma)Erik Ten Hag is one of our own "MessiFc" 😍😍 pic.twitter.com/JWY4lCTsl4
— Zarewa (@S_zarewa)