United Fans Deserve Better, Says Ronaldo, after Drubbing by Liverpool

Manchester United’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to going four down just before half-time in the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 24, 2021. (AFP)
Manchester United’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to going four down just before half-time in the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 24, 2021. (AFP)
TT
20

United Fans Deserve Better, Says Ronaldo, after Drubbing by Liverpool

Manchester United’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to going four down just before half-time in the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 24, 2021. (AFP)
Manchester United’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to going four down just before half-time in the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on October 24, 2021. (AFP)

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo blamed the team for Sunday’s 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool and said fans of the Old Trafford club deserve better.

Egypt forward Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick as Liverpool humiliated United, who are now without a win in their last four games and have slipped to seventh on the Premier League table, eight points behind leaders Chelsea.

"Sometimes the result is not the one we fight for. Sometimes the score is not the one we want. And this is on us, only on us, because there’s no one else to blame," Ronaldo, who returned to the club in the summer for his second spell, said on Instagram.

"Our fans were, once again, amazing in their constant support. They deserve better than this, much better, and it’s up to us to deliver. The time is now!"

Defender Luke Shaw, who made a series of defensive errors alongside captain Harry Maguire on Sunday, echoed Ronaldo’s comments.

"We are extremely disappointed, it is not good enough and it hurts a lot," Shaw told the club website. "I think football is obviously a team sport, we are in it together and we are all together.

"But I think, as individuals, we need to take responsibility for some of the actions tonight (Sunday)... I have not been at my best and I know that, for maybe the last few weeks, so I need to reflect on that."

United travel to Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday’s league game.



Soccer-Bayern Munich on Brink of Bundesliga Title, Kane Eyes Record

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - 1. FC Heidenheim v Bayern Munich - Voith-Arena, Heidenheim, Germany - April 19, 2025 Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller and Harry Kane celebrate after the match REUTERS/Heiko Becke/ File Photo
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - 1. FC Heidenheim v Bayern Munich - Voith-Arena, Heidenheim, Germany - April 19, 2025 Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller and Harry Kane celebrate after the match REUTERS/Heiko Becke/ File Photo
TT
20

Soccer-Bayern Munich on Brink of Bundesliga Title, Kane Eyes Record

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - 1. FC Heidenheim v Bayern Munich - Voith-Arena, Heidenheim, Germany - April 19, 2025 Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller and Harry Kane celebrate after the match REUTERS/Heiko Becke/ File Photo
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - 1. FC Heidenheim v Bayern Munich - Voith-Arena, Heidenheim, Germany - April 19, 2025 Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller and Harry Kane celebrate after the match REUTERS/Heiko Becke/ File Photo

Bayern Munich will secure the Bundesliga title on Saturday with a win over top four hopefuls Mainz 05 if rivals and reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen fail to beat Augsburg.

The Bavarians, who last year saw Leverkusen clinch a league and Cup double undefeated, are eager to seal their 34th German league crown and reestablish their domestic dominance.

It would also help put last week's bitter Champions League quarter-final exit to Inter Milan behind them.

For 31-year-old forward Harry Kane, who has scored 60 goals in his 60 Bundesliga matches for Bayern so far, it would be the first major club trophy of his career, having failed to lift any silverware with Tottenham Hotspur or England, Reuters reported.

With 24 league goals so far, Kane is also on track to become the first player to win the top scorer title in both of his first two Bundesliga seasons.

Bayern are on 72 points with four matches left to play, and with Leverkusen second on 64.

For 35-year-old Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will be leaving at the end of the season after 25 years at the club, it could be his 500th league game for Bayern.

Only three other players in Bundesliga history have ever reached that mark playing for just one club: Charly Koerbel (602 games for Eintracht Frankfurt), Manfred Kaltz (581 matches for Hamburg SV) and Michael Lameck (518 for VfL Bochum).

While Bayern's title win looks all but certain and Leverkusen are sure of Champions League football next season being 12 points ahead of third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, there is a battle raging for the last two spots in the top continental club competition.

The top four finishers qualify automatically for the Champions League.

Eintracht, third on 52 points, host fourth-placed RB Leipzig, on 49, on Saturday. Freiburg, on 48, are fifth.

Mainz, sixth on 47 points, and seventh-placed Borussia Dortmund on 45, are still in with a chance, albeit slim, of finishing in the top four.

Dortmund, who travel to Hoffenheim on Saturday, have had a disappointing domestic campaign, dropping outside of the European spots.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League, a competition in which they reached the final last year, would be a major financial and sporting blow to the publicly-traded Ruhr valley club.

But club bosses know that the horror scenario would be missing out on European football completely next season.