Good morning Man Utd fans
Manchester United will face Atletico Madrid tonight in their Champions League Last 16 first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone is dealing with a number of serious concerns before the match.
Antoine Griezmann, Koke and Yannick Carrasco weren’t involved in training, while there are also doubts about Liverpool legend Luis Suarez’s fitness.
United interim manager Ralf Rangnick, on the other hand, will be missing Edinson Cavani due to a groin problem that didn’t allow him to fly to Madrid.
Rangnick has kept further fitness updates to himself following Sunday’s 4-2 victory at Leeds.
Phil Jones is eligible to compete in Europe again and of course Raphael Varane came off the bench at Elland Road.
United’s flight to Madrid for their Champions League match against Atletico was cancelled at the last minute.
The Red Devils usually fly with Russian airline Aeroflot to their European games following a commercial agreement.
But Tuesday’s flight, which was scheduled to take off at 4pm, was called off amid growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick’s men instead travelled with UK-based charter airline Titan Airways.
According to The Athletic, the decision to cancel the flight was mutual between the club and Aeroflot.
The Russian airline described themselves as ‘the official carrier of Manchester United’ and have been a long-time sponsor.
Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his military to enter and provide “peacekeeping functions” in Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russia-backed separatist territories in Ukraine, which he recently recognised as independent states.
Meanwhile, United will not stand in Cristiano Ronaldo’s way if he decides to leave in the summer.
Ronaldo has made his frustrations at United’s inability to challenge for the Premier League title clear in recent weeks.
According to the Daily Mirror, the Red Devils will not block a move if he wants to leave Old Trafford.
The 37-year-old star would still have one year left on his contract, but the hierarchy would let him go.
Reports suggest the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is wanted by Paris Saint-Germain and Roma.
Finally, United have been fined £20,000 by the FA after failing to control their players against Brighton last week.
Several United aces surrounded referee Peter Bankes after Seagulls captain Lewis Dunk fouled Anthony Elanga early in the second half.
The ref initially showed Dunk a yellow card, but that was upgraded to a red after checking with VAR.
The initial decision to only caution the defender was protested furiously by several Red Devils players.
Bruno Fernandes was booked for his over-the-top reaction during the scuffle.
The FA then announced that they charged the Manchester giants over the incident
Source: The Sun