Marcus Rashford names Cristiano Ronaldo as biggest inspiration ahead of Champions League showdown

Marcus Rashford has pinpointed Wednesday evening’s opponent Cristiano Ronaldo as his biggest inspiration.

The Manchester United striker is poised to play a key role in Turin against former Old Trafford favourite Ronaldo and is hoping his side get off to a better start than they did in the first encounter with Juventus.

‘For me there is no bigger inspiration in football,’ said Rashford. ‘I could speak for a lot of young players and United fans that watched the team when he was here and the majority of us have followed him as he’s moved on in his career and that’s what is special about United.

Rashford is set to face Ronaldo’s Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday evening

‘Once you play for this club you become part of this family even if you move on. There is always something that remains in your heart, you could see that when he returned [to Old Trafford] from our fans.

‘When you play against a player like that you have to respect his qualities but at the same time you have to play your game and you can’t show fear to that type of player.

‘The thing that is a massive eye-opener for me now is I remember when he first came his talent was arguably one of the biggest talents that we’ve seen at United for a long time; to have him and Wayne [Rooney] in the same team was amazing when you look back.

‘But the way he’s sustained his career and even improved year or year is just amazing.

‘People don’t do that at his age, people are usually heading towards the end of their career and their level starts going down a little bit, but he’s just gone up and up and up.’ 

Ronaldo (second-left) was a key part of the United side under Sir Alex Ferguson as Rashford was coming through the youth ranks

Rashford is expected to keep his place up front for after scoring a late winner on Saturday

Rashford and the United squad have been staying at the AllegroItalia Golden Palace Hotel in Turin. The England striker was buoyed by his weekend winner against Bournemouth which is just as well with Romelu Lukaku not travelling following his injury. 

Talking to the club website, Rashford added: ‘The home game was a game with a lot of lessons. It was a game where we could have lost 2-0, drew the game 1-1 or won the game 2-1.

‘I think in that game we left it a bit too late, but we learnt from it and we go again.

‘There have been times when we’ve got it right and there will be times when we get it right again and times when we don’t, but we have to understand that it doesn’t always go to plan, and we have to be ready for that.

‘I think it’s good to have the two games quite close together because the first game is quite fresh in a lot of people’s minds. I wouldn’t say it’s easier to prepare for it, but you feel ready to face it.’