Solskjaer reveals reason to substitute Ronaldo and Fernandes after Manchester United’s Champions League loss

Manchester United was stunned by Young Boys in their season’s opening Champions League match against Young Boys in Bern. The Red Devils took the lead in the 13th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo scored after an assist from Bruno Fernandez.

However, Manchester United was reduced to 10-man after Aaron Wan-Bissakka received a red card in the 35th minute. The hosts were able to add salt to Manchester United’s injury when Moumi Ngamaleu equalized in the 66th minute. Young Boys’ substitute Theoson Siebatcheu scored in the final minute to secure a win for his team.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed that he substituted Ronaldo and Fernandes in the 72nd minute in order to protect his players. Solskjaer replaced the Portuguese pair with Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard.

When asked about the changes in his post-match press conference, Solskjaer explained: “The game had gone 70-odd minutes, they had been running a lot, both on Saturday and today. “The astroturf takes its toll as well and we wanted Nemanja’s experience to keep hold of the ball and Jesse’s legs.

On the other hand, Sky Sports expert Paul Merson was not impressed with Sojskjaer’s move to substitute the team’s two best players when the scores was level.

He said on Soccer Special: “Young Boys were petrified of Ronaldo but Lingard plays how l used to play – he will come back and get the ball, and that’s not helping because you are down to 10 men already.

“You want the ball going the other way because if the ball goes the other way then your opponents can squeeze the game. That’s all Young Boys did: they pushed up to the halfway line because there was no threat behind.

“Without that threat, you aren’t going to win too many football matches. If you are going to bring Ronaldo off, bring Mason Greenwood on because he has the pace.”

Manchester United will next play West Ham on Sunday.