MY ACCOUNT
Cristiano Ronaldo is “one of the greatest players to ever play the game” according to Leeds United full-back Luke Ayling, who is excited by the challenge of facing the Manchester United great.
Leeds renew acquaintances with their cross-Pennine rivals at Elland Road on Sunday, aiming to extract some revenge for a humiliating 5-1 opening-game reverse at Old Trafford.
Portugal legend Ronaldo had not yet completed his return to the Red Devils by that point and he has since scored 15 goals in all competitions in a season where United have flattered to deceive.
Ronaldo ended a six-game goal drought by netting in United’s 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion last time out, though, and Ayling is excited to pit his wits against the superstar forward.
“He’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game; of course it’s great to be on the same pitch as someone like that,” he told Sky Sports.
“Everyone’s watched him for years, it’ll be nice to get on the same pitch as him and hopefully do well against him.”
Leeds’ own campaign has more miss than hit, with the Yorkshire outfit registering just five top-flight wins in a season ravaged by injuries.
The club’s supporters were unable to attend last season’s corresponding fixture, which finished 0-0, due to the coronavirus pandemic and Ayling is keen to give the Leeds faithful something to celebrate.
He added: “The game at Old Trafford was a weird one. We felt like we stayed in it first half, stayed alright, went in at 1-0 down and got it back to 1-1, then there was just a mad five minutes where they scored three goals and it was 4-1 before we knew it.
“We take a lot of heart from what we did against them at our place, I thought we did really well, and got a 0-0 draw, we coped with them really well.
“We knew the second year of being in the Premier League would be tough. We were still riding the wave of promotion the first year, we started well, and it kind of just carried on. But going into the second season, you’ve seen it loads of times before, you know it’s going to be a tricky season.
“It hasn’t helped that we’ve had so many injuries along the way, and it feels like once we get two or three back, then four get injured. It’s been a hard season like that, but we keep plugging away and trying to get points to climb the table.
“We know what a big game it is for the fans. They’ve waited 17 years to get back into the ground to see this game, we played Man Utd last year without them here – the players will be rocking on Sunday, it’s the one game I know they’ve been buzzing for.
“I think it gives the whole city, the whole club a lift [to win] and after the match [loss to Everton] last weekend, it’s a good game for us to go in because we know the crowd’s going to be behind us, 100 per cent.
“The place is going to be rocking, and it’s a great chance for us.”
