Only one place we could head to this weekend for the latest instalment in our Framed series, and that was back to Old Trafford to witness the return of one of their greatest players of all time: yes, Steve Bruce was back with his Newcastle United side. Oh, and some chap called Ronaldo also played and bagged a brace…
Since the announcement of his return, Old Trafford has been awash with CR7 fever. Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United as one of the club’s greatest players of all time, and he returned as one of the world’s greatest of all time. A home clash against Newcastle United was seemingly the perfect stage for his second debut, but the million dollar question all Fantasy Football managers were asking themselves was: would he start?
The simple answer was of course he would. This is Ronaldo, and you can’t leave him out. The scene was set, the excitement levels were fever pitch: this was the Theatre of Dreams come true for the 72,732 fans in attendance. Sure, Newcastle fans were probably dreading the inevitable performance to come, but there must have been a small part of them that were happy to witness the spectacle – this was history. Thankfully for Man United fans, it seemed that someone (probably Ronaldo himself) had paid off Newcastle keeper Freddie Woodman (who was 12 when Ronaldo left United back in 2009) and the Portuguese was able to bag an easy brace on his return. His legendary status was secured long ago, but his legacy continues to be built upon.
Photography by Ross Cooke for SoccerBible.