- Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini jokingly told
Cristiano Ronaldo to "go to hell" after a match on Tuesday. - Ronaldo had scored a last minute equalizer as
Manchester United drew 2-2 with the Italian side.
Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini revealed he jokingly told Cristiano Ronaldo to "go to hell" after the Manchester United forward scored a sensational last minute equalizer against his side in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Italian side was beating United 2-1 in a Group F match with just seconds to play when Ronaldo struck a superb volley to level the scores and rescue a point for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side at the Gewiss Stadium.
The Portuguese forward also scored United's first on the night, canceling out Josef Ilicic's early opener. In the reverse fixture at Old Trafford two weeks ago, he scored an 81st minute winner as United won 3-2.
Speaking after Tuesday's match, Gasperini lifted the lid on a conversation he had with the striker shortly after the final whistle.
"At the end of the match, I spoke with Ronaldo," he told Sky Italia. "He's an incredible player, some even call him a problem."
Last month, the former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said he believed Ronaldo had made United worse because he has added to the club's problems of having too many individual stars.
"That's a nice problem to have," the Italian added. "He rarely gets it off target; half the time he scores, half the time it is saved.
"I told him, 'You know what we say in Italy? Go to hell'."
All seven of United's points thus far in this season's Champions League have come courtesy of late Ronaldo strikes.
As well as his two last gasp strikes against Atalanta, which have earned the Red Devils four points, the 36-year-old also netted a 95th minute winner against Villarreal on match day two.
In the Premier League, however, the Portuguese forward has endured a hit-and-miss start to his second spell at Old Trafford following his summer switch from Juventus.
Ronaldo hit three goals in his first two top flight matches, but then went on a baron run of four games without a goal - three of which United lost.
His dry spell came to an end at the weekend as he netted the opener in an impressive 3-0 win over Totteham Hotspur, which resulted in the London team's boss, Nuno Espirito Santo, being sacked.