Ronaldo and Rashford went on to play together three years after these comments were made.
Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford heaped praise on Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2018 before the latter returned to Old Trafford for his second stint. Ronaldo was still playing for Juventus back then and the Red Devils were drawn alongside them in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Their first face-off at Old Trafford had finished 1-0 in Juventus’ favor and Rashford’s comments came ahead of the return fixture at the Allianz Arena in November 2018. Speaking to Manchester United’s official website, the Englishman praised Ronaldo’s longevity.
“The thing that is a massive eye-opener for me now is I remember when he first came his talent was arguably one of the biggest talents that we’ve seen at United for a long time; to have him and Wayne [Rooney] in the same team was amazing when you look back. But the way he’s sustained his career and even improved year or year is just amazing,” he said.
“People don’t do that at his age, people are usually heading towards the end of their career and their level starts going down a little bit, but he’s just gone up and up and up,” he added.
Rashford further revealed that the Portuguese icon was his biggest inspiration in football, saying:
“For me there is no bigger inspiration in football. I could speak for a lot of young players and United fans that watched the team when he was here and the majority of us have followed him as he’s moved on in his career and that’s what special about United.
“Once you play for this club you become part of this family even if you move on. There is always something that remains in your heart, you could see that when he returned [to Old Trafford] from our fans.
“When you play against a player like that you have to respect his qualities but at the same time you have to play your game and you can’t show fear to that type of player.”
Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford in 2021 and the duo played 39 matches together, combining for two goals. The Portuguese eventually left Manchester United in December 2022 for Al-Nassr.
What happened in the return fixture between Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus
Cristiano Ronaldo started against his former club and also got on the scoresheet, giving Juventus the lead in the 65th minute. However, Manchester United made a late comeback to take all three points back home.
Juan Mata scored off a free-kick in the 86th minute before Leonardo Bonucci’s own goal three minutes later gave Jose Mourinho’s side the win.
United went on to finish second in the group behind Juventus. They then famously defeated Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 before going down to Barcelona in the quarterfinals.
