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A cardboard CR7 in the sea of United fans: Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester dominated the headlines in the city
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CARL RECINE / Action Images / Reuters
In addition to a sporting competition, the Premier League is above all a story generator. And the biggest stories are provided by Cristiano Ronaldo, who is likely to play for Manchester United for the first time since 2009 in the home game against Newcastle United (4 p.m., live ticker: SPIEGEL.de). Since it was decided two weeks ago that Ronaldo's return from Juventus Turin to the club where he once matured into a world star, he has mastered the "back pages", as the sports section in England is called in the newspapers.
Discussed are technical questions about his performance at the age of 36, the consequences of his arrival for younger players or United's possible title chances. Some media also address the rape allegations against Ronaldo, which, according to SPIEGEL research, became public in 2017. "The Athletic" claims to respond to reader inquiries on the subject. Ronaldo's move also brings this chapter of his life back to the public.
Elsewhere, banalities become news.
The "Sun", for example, draws attention to the fact that the sports car lover Ronaldo has to live in his new place of residence, Alderley Edge, south of Manchester, which is popular with footballers, with a speed limit of 20 miles per hour (approx. 32 km / h).
Such is planned by the local administration.
The "Mirror" reports that Manchester United have shrunk the previous playmaker Bruno Fernandes in favor of Ronaldo - on the huge poster that adorns the facade of Old Trafford.
The sale of Ronaldo jerseys is said to have brought in 218 million euros
How big the hype about Ronaldo is can be seen at the club's stadium, even outside of match days. In front of the gates of the fan shop on the first floor of the east stand, queues of people stand in line for the new Ronaldo jersey with the iconic number 7. According to lovethesales.com, never before has a player's shirt sold more than Ronaldo's latest in one season. Around 218 million euros are said to have been raised - within just one week since the official announcement of the transfer. For comparison: Lionel Messi's new jersey, who joined Paris St.-Germain, brought in only 121 million euros.
Young children in Ronaldo jerseys are draped for photos by proud parents in front of the statue of the "United Trinity" from George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton. The fan scarves sellers who are always present have recently started selling Ronaldo scarves in particular. The scene is a stark contrast to the images from the beginning of May, when the rebellious United community forced the cancellation of the game against Liverpool.
Many hard-core Manchester United supporters are determined to continue their years of protest against club owners, the Florida Glazers.
But Ronaldo's arrival has euphorized the club environment to the extent that it was most recently the case with the last of United's 20 championship titles eight years ago.
Even fans, who normally hate the hustle and bustle of transfers, openly admit that they spent the Friday two weeks ago, when Ronaldo's return was decided, banned from the news tickers.
It was a spectacular turnaround: in the morning the public assumed that Ronaldo would join Manchester City (and thereby forfeit his status as a United legend).
In the evening, the prodigal's return home to Old Trafford was official.
Points victory against the rival
The enthusiasm of the United crowd for Ronaldo is of course also due to the fact that they inflicted a crushing defeat on the city rivals on the transfer market, who had lost their sporty and structural strength in recent years. While United can now adorn themselves with one of the best footballers in history, Manchester City are telling themselves that after the failed signing of Harry Kane and Ronaldo, they will get along without a real center forward - as last season, as Ilkay Gündoğan was the top scorer on the way to the third championship in four years.
What is certain, however, is that United is once again the greatest story in English football.
Ronaldo's comeback against Newcastle is awaited with the feverish excitement of a Champions League final.
It is all the more curious that the game takes place practically behind closed doors for the British public.
This is because of a rule that the UK does not allow live football to be shown on television on Saturday afternoons.
The purpose of the "3pm blackout" is to protect clubs from the lower leagues.
According to the theory, they would lose a lot of spectators and thus important income if the football-loving part of the country sat in the pub or on the couch at home on Saturday afternoons instead of going to the sports field around the corner.
Live only in the stadium - and on the radio
The top games of the Premier League with live broadcast take place on Saturday lunchtime, on Saturday evening or on Sunday. At the traditional English kick-off time on Saturday at 3 p.m. local time, games from Burnley, Brighton or Southampton are hidden behind the blackout. And on this Saturday also Manchester United against Newcastle. Ronaldo's commitment was not in sight when the pay-TV channels Sky Sports and BT Sport selected their live encounters at the start of the season. While his comeback will be shown live in almost every corner of the world, most English will not see pictures of it until later that evening in the sports show equivalent of "Match of the Day".
This contradiction has fueled the recurring debate as to whether the football ban on Saturday afternoon is still appropriate. The Telegraph, for example, complains that English fans are being turned into "second class citizens," as if the right to play Premier League games had recently become a civil right. The radio can look forward to it. “We often play second fiddle. The fact that the TV managers are jealous of us is a nice change, «says Ian Dennis, who will be commenting on Ronaldo's comeback for the broadcaster» BBC Radio 5 Live «. If you want to see the game live in England (legally), you have to be one of the 75,000 or so lucky ones who have a ticket for the game at Old Trafford. And somehow it fits: the return of Ronaldo,which is surrounded by so much nostalgia - it takes place in a closed society, as a family festival of the United community.
