Cristiano Ronaldo: Manchester United ‘believes until the end’

It’s a familiar scene this season:

1. Manchester United has a chance to build on a quality result.

2. They trail early in a match

3. Cristiano Ronaldo drags them back.

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And he repeated steps Nos. 2 and 3 on Tuesday when Manchester United rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to draw Atalanta 2-2 in UEFA Champions League action in Bergamo, Italy.

“We never give up, we believe until the end, it is a good result for us,” Ronaldo said. “The beginning was tough, we knew Atalanta would do a lot of pressure, they have a fantastic coach, when I played at Juventus they were always difficult to play against. We were a little bit lucky in the end but that is football.”

It’s a challenge to imagine where Manchester United would be without Ronaldo this season, even with a load of talented attackers in the fold.

Ronaldo has nine goals in 12 matches this season, and he’s scored in all four of United’s Champions League matches.

He has two braces, and United is 5-1-1 when he scores a goal.

Three of Ronaldo’s last four goals sealed a UCL result for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and they arrived at these points:

• 90'+5 to beat Villarreal
• 81' to beat Atalanta
• 90'+1 to draw Atalanta

Put plainly, United would be staring at Europa League without the Portuguese.

Follow @NicholasMendola