At this point, it’s no mystery who Alejandro Garnacho looks up to in the Manchester United dressing room. Garnacho, 18, has been very open about his admiration for five-time Ballon d’Or winner and United legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
The second leg of Europe on Thursday night marked another milestone in the star’s burgeoning career.
It also gave Garnacho the opportunity to praise Ronaldo. After United’s win, the star posted a photo of himself emulating the Portuguese talisman’s latest viral goal celebration.
He captioned the photo: “18 years and 125 days dreaming of this moment. Thank you idol, Cristiano Ronaldo.”
According to ESPN, such is his respect that Garnacho asked his idol if he could celebrate before he came forward.
Garnacho asked Ronaldo if he could do his celebration ❤️ pic.twitter.com/c2YqupW9Eh
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 4, 2022
The Red Devils needed to win by a two-goal margin to secure top spot in their group. It was a feat that surpassed Erik ten Hag’s men.
United found themselves absorbing sustained pressure from an attack-minded Real Sociedad.
Imanol Alguacil’s side were not content to sit back and close shop, attacking United’s goal all night. David de Gea made another impressive change along the baseline to secure another clean sheet.
The star of the show, however, was the young Argentine striker.
Garnacho scored the only goal of the night in his second absolute start with the English team. Fittingly, none other than Ronaldo provided the assist.
Ronaldo played through Jimmy Murphy’s Young Player of the Year, who left the defense behind after some revealing touches.
Garnacho then sent a rocket to the roof of the net with his weaker foot. His performance earned him his second European Man of the Match award in two games.
The win means United continue their unbeaten run in all competitions, extending their run to nine matches.
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