Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen expressed his sadness at the departure of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, stressing at the same time that the club can move forward even without one of the biggest names in the history of the "Red Devils", as he put it.
"We feel sad because Ronaldo is not part of that victory," Eriksen said after his team Manchester United won 3-0 over Nottingham Forest in the 17th round of the league.
The victory of Eriksen's comrades on Tuesday was the first since the controversial departure of Ronaldo on November 22 from the Red Devils.
Manchester United strengthened its position in fifth place in the Premier League, with 29 points from 15 matches, a point behind Tottenham, who played one more match and tied with its neighbor and host Brentford 2-2 yesterday, Tuesday, as well.
Since his return to Manchester United in 2021, Ronaldo has played 54 matches and scored 27 goals (Reuters)
The Danish international added, "His legacy and his name are in any distinguished club. For me, it was wonderful to be fortunate to play with him in my football career."
He continued, "Football continues (..) People will forget what things were like before, and now our focus is that he (Ronaldo) is no longer with us."
And the Danish international added, "The atmosphere is good. We have a lot of players who have returned from the World Cup, and some of them are on their way to return, and the team is complete."
Ronaldo's second pass at Old Trafford, in the summer of 2021, ended with his exit from the narrow door in conjunction with the Qatar 2022 World Cup after a fiery interview in which he criticized his Dutch coach Eric ten Hag and the club's owners.
As for the green rectangle, Ronaldo's level has declined since the Dutch coach took over the technical matters at the beginning of the current season, as it became clear that the team did not regret giving up the best player in the world 5 times after Marcus Rashford, Frenchman Anthony Martial and Brazilian substitute Fred scored the "Devils" hat-trick. The Reds" yesterday, Tuesday, to get closer to the top four in the Premier League.