Eric ten Hag, the coach of Manchester United, announced that French defender Raphaël Varane will not participate with the team until the end of the World Cup. He added that forward Cristiano Ronaldo will play against Sheriff Tiraspol in the UEFA Europa League. Varane, who is 29 years old, injured his ankle in the second half during a match that ended in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea earlier in the week and appeared dazed as he left Stamford Bridge.
Ten Hag confirmed that the 2018 World Cup-winning defender will miss United's remaining six matches before the mid-season break, but he did not rule out Varane's participation in the finals, which will take place in Qatar from November 20 to December 18. Ten Hag told reporters before the visit of Sheriff to Old Trafford: "Rafa Varane is not in the squad. He will be out until the end of the World Cup and will not play this amount (of matches) for Manchester United. I believe he will be ready for the World Cup, but we have to wait. We need to see how he develops and how the rehabilitation process goes."
Ronaldo has trained away from the team and was excluded from the match against Chelsea last Saturday after refusing to play as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur in the previous match. The 37-year-old Ronaldo has provided a morale boost to United's attack in light of Anthony Martial's absence from the last four matches due to a back injury. Ten Hag stated, "Cristiano will be in the squad tomorrow. It wasn't difficult. We have said everything and answered all the questions last week. He was out of the squad for only one match, and now he’s back as usual." He added that he would make a last-minute decision regarding the participation of team captain Harry Maguire, Donny van de Beek, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who also returned to training on Tuesday after recovering from injuries.
