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A Heavy Tackle On Cristiano Ronaldo Meant Manu Hernando Never Trained With Real Madrid First Team Again

A Heavy Tackle On Cristiano Ronaldo Meant Manu Hernando Never Trained With Real Madrid First Team Again

He was only a teenager at the time but Hernando was training with the Real Madrid first team squad during the 2017/18 campaign.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

A training ground challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo 'cost' Real Madrid defender Manu Hernando his place in first team training, according to reports in Spain.

Hernando, who was only a teenager at the time, was training with Madrid's first team squad during the 2017/18 campaign when the incident occured.

At the time Zinedine Zidane's side were out of La Liga contention but Los Blancos were still going strong in the Champions League, where they eventually went on to win the competition.

But before lifting the trophy during a routine training session at the club's training centre in Valdebebas, Zidane split the squad up into two teams for a practice game, according to MARCA.


It was here where Hernando delivered a heavy challenge on the five-time Ballon d'Or winner after challenging for a loose ball. Ronaldo fell to the ground and according to the report, he didn't hide his anger afterwards.

You could even say that was a pivotal moment in Hernando's young career.

Hernando apologised to Ronaldo afterwards and the game continued, but that was the defender's last training session with the first team squad.

In the coming weeks Zidane decided against giving the youngster another call-up to first team training and he was eventually ousted to the reserves before joining Racing Santander on loan in January.

Hernando made his unofficial debut for Madrid in 2017, where he featured in a pre-season game against Manchester United, but he has yet to make an official appearance for the first team.

Last season, the defender made a total of 15 appearances on loan at Racing Santander in the Segunda División, scoring one goal from the back

But whether he will be able to break into Real Madrid's side under Zidane is unclear.

The 22-year-old was sent out loan to second division side SD Ponferradina in August and he has so far made four appearances for the club this season.

Featured Image Credit: Manu Hernando/Twitter

Topics: Football News, Football, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, La Liga