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‘Contra CR7′: Atletico Madrid fans take to social media to protest links with the Manchester United man

The Spanish side have scores to settle with the Portuguese forward


Cristiano Ronaldo

Atletico Madrid supporters have taken to social media in their droves to protest the potential signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, with the RojaBlanco fans getting ‘#ContraCR7′ trending across Twitter as reports linking them with a move for the former Real Madrid man persist.

Ronaldo has yet to rejoin his teammates for pre-season, despite being due back two weeks ago, and was omitted from United’s travelling squad to Bangkok and Australia.

Erik ten Hag was quick to deny that a departure was in the works, stressing that his key asset is not for sale this summer.

Cristiano Ronaldo

“Cristiano Ronaldo is not for sale, he is in our plans”, he told the media. “He’s not with us due to personal issues. We are planning with Cristiano Ronaldo for this season, that’s it”.

The Dutchman then added that he is “looking forward to work with him”, allaying potential fears that the 37-year-old may not be in Manchester come transfer deadline day.

However, while United are steadfast in their unwillingness to sell the veteran, Spanish outlet AS reported that the star ‘insists’ on a departure, and that Atletico Madrid could be one destination for the former Real Madrid forward.

Reports even suggested that the forward was willing to take a significant paycut in order to leave Old Trafford this summer, such is his desperation to remain playing Champions League football.

This link, however, caused significant backlash online.

Atletico fans start ContraCR7 campaign

Atletico Madrid have never been fans of Ronaldo by virtue of him playing for their biggest rivals, but also due to his incredible record against Diego Simeone’s side. In 31 games against them for Real Madrid, Ronaldo netted 22 goals and grabbed 9 assists, including a goal in the 2014 Champions League final between the sides.

Moving to Juventus, he then netted a second-leg hat-trick against his former rivals, overturning a 2-0 first-leg deficit to send the Turin side to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

And, as can be seen below, the Rojablanco faithful have not forgiven, nor forgotten.

Ben Browning

Ben Browning

Football writer and analyst. Long-time writer of all things Arsenal and avid watcher of European football. Happy to discuss all things football over on Twitter.


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