Cristiano Ronaldo may clash against Manchester United again

Club football has begun once more and the teams are off, competing in the first of the tournaments this season, the Guinness International Champions Cup. While the cup may be regarded as just a pre-season friendly tournament, the football that is played in it is far from relaxed and friendly. One can notice by looking at the matches that have already taken place.

Teams are out to try their new signings and experiment with different combinations. And everyone is out for a win. With that set, we now get ready for the current European Champions, Real Madrid to face recently rejuvenated Red Devils, Manchester United. Following a poor performance against Roma, and the United challenge looming closer and closer; it looks like Los Blancos will now deploy a stronger side and notably, Cristiano Ronaldo might play against his former club Manchester United on Saturday as he steps up his return from a knee injury.

Speaking after the 1-0 defeat to Roma, Coach Carlo Ancelotti said that Ronaldo underwent two training sessions today and that he is working well on his own. "Let's see if in the next few days he can train with the team and can play against Manchester," added the Italian. "We have to be careful, right now we have to be calm."

Ronaldo, who recently featured in the news for a case filed against him, has not played for Real Madrid after the world cup, spending his time, recuperating from his injuries. Well, if Ronaldo is fit enough to play in the match in Detroit it will be just the third time he has faced his former club since leaving for Real Madrid in 2009. The previous two times came during the 2012/13 Champions League where Ronaldo scored in both legs of the Last-16 knock-out match as Real Madrid won 3-2 on aggregate.

Ronaldo’s emotional reunion with his former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson

Those two games were the last European matches of Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure at United and also probably the last time, that Ronaldo met his greatest teacher of the beautiful game. The reunion of the former Manchester United manager with, possibly the greatest talent to play under him during his 27-year Old Trafford reign was an emotional occasion for both of them. Ferguson even went along to describe Ronaldo as "the most gifted player I managed" in his autobiography. The second-leg, which was at Old Trafford, saw Ronaldo welcomed back by fans who gave him a ecstatic reception and also saw him re-united with many former team-mates.

Cristiano Ronaldo, during his Manchester United days

However, such a scene is not likely to be witnessed, this Saturday. This reunion will be of a different affair. Manchester United has gone through many changes and Ronaldo may come back to some things that are alien to him. Firstly, when he looks at the dugout, he won’t see a red faced, spectacled Scot, perpetually chewing gum but will now find Louis van Gaal sitting in the opposition dug-out.

And another reason is that while some former team-mates, including Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs (now in a coaching role), Nani, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Rafael and Danny Welbeck remain at the club from Ronaldo's time - many more have since left. When he last played against Manchester United, Paul Scholes, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Dimitar Berbatov and Rio Ferdinand were playing against him but these players are no longer with the club. Since he left for £80m in 2009, there are many more who have left United - Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville, Louis Saha, Park Ji-Sung and Carlos Tevez to name some.

Moving up the ladder the man who approved his sale, David Gill, has been replaced by Ed Woodward and even the shirt sponsors have changed since then. Ronaldo, the current Fifa Ballon d'Or holder, will be sure to receive a warm reception from United fans and those players that still remain, but there will lesser people to share memories with.