On Tuesday afternoon, Manchester United players flew to Madrid, Spain, on a charter flight by British Titan Airlines, in preparation for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Atletico Madrid the next day. Ronaldo, Sancho, Bruno Fernandez and Marcus Rashford are all in the squad, but Cavani will remain sidelined due to injury.
At the pre-match press conference, Lonnick confirmed that the 35-year-old Cavani will not be able to compete due to a groin strain. "Edinson (Cavani) can't go with the team." "He didn't train and hasn't been able to train normally for the past two weeks, so he wasn't on the roster," Lonnick said. He still had problems with his groin, and since he felt he couldn't sprint at full strength, there was no point in participating in training, and there was no need to force him to train. He has enough experience to know when to fully recover and when to compete."
The photographer captured most of the Manchester United players arriving at Manchester Airport, including Ronaldo, Sancho, Varane and Maguire, including "youth prince" Hannibal Megerbury, who changed his original puffy head to a "dirty braid". Subsequently, United officially released a video of the arrival of the players in Madrid, filming Fernandez, Rashford, Eric Bai and De Gea. Luke Shaw, Wan Bissaka and McTomine, while not filmed, were certainly on the roster.
The Champions League is the only event united still have a chance to win this season, and of course, Lonnick's side is not well watched. Some argue that United should focus on the Premier League's race for four, but Lonnick has a different view. "The Champions League is not a distraction, otherwise why are teams competing for Champions League qualification and eager to get a place?" Lonnick said, "If you want to win tickets to the Champions League next season, how can this be a distraction? The Champions League is the reason we play for Manchester United, tomorrow's opponents are one of the best teams in Europe and we want to beat them. Although the chances are small, if you can win the Champions League, you can also qualify for next season."
Lonnick added: "To keep our hopes of winning the title, we have to play two top-level matches with Atletico and hopefully move on to the next round. The key is to get good results, like in the last two league games, we have all scored 3 points, which lays a good foundation for the future. You can't just play 45 or 60 minutes, you have to get the ideal result."
Rival Atletico Have been in poor form recently, currently in 5th place in La Liga, and even lost at home to bottom-out Levante last week. But Lonnick told United not to look down on Diego Simeone's side.
"In 11 years, Simeone has won championships with distinctive characteristics. They are very emotional and reflect the character of the coach. We have to match the fighting spirit and physical fitness of the opponent in the game, and the players need to be clear about this. I will try to get the players ready for this challenge, including physical fitness, emotions and we have to show a strong spirit in both games, especially away from home. We've never met, but I respect Simeone's accomplishments over the past 11 years. He's made the team the most respectable team in Europe and I'm looking forward to both games."
Manchester United Champions League squads: De Gea, Dean Henderson, Tom Heaton; Diogu Dalo, Wan bissaka, Varane, Lindelof, Maguire, Bai, Phil Jones, Tres, Luke Shaw; Fred, McTomine, Nemani, Nemani Matic, Pogba, Mata, Hannibal, Lingard; Sancho, Ronaldo, Anthony Erlanga, Rashford.