But is it more complicated than that? Is the presence of the Portuguese superstar at the fulcrum of the attack helping or hindering the team, who have made a stuttering start to the season?

United came into the contest in north London on the back of a 5-0 hammering by their bitter rivals Liverpool that heaped the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but goals from Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford sealed a comfortable win.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is clinging to his job after United's humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool last week. His side have taken just one point from the past 12 on offer.

"FC Barcelona has relieved Ronald Koeman of his duties as first team coach. The president of the club, Joan Laporta, informed him of the decision after the defeat against Rayo Vallecano," the LaLiga club said in a statement.

This was a victory that sent Madrid five points clear of their opponents, a healthy gap even at this early stage of a La Liga season that has 29 games to go.

Jose Mourinho was sacked in December 2018 following a 3-1 defeat at Anfield that left United sixth in the Premier League table.

Egypt forward Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick as Liverpool humiliated United, who are now without a win in their last four games and have slipped to seventh on the Premier League table, eight points behind leaders Chelsea.

The arch rivals will lock horns in Dubai in one of the biggest games of the tournament with an expected television audience of up to one billion people.

Verstappen claimed his ninth pole of the season with a time of 1min 32.910sec, two tenths faster than the British driver.

Having claimed a record 41 Bundesliga goals last season, Lewandowski has picked up where he left off.

Indonesia is barred from raising the country's flag in international sporting events due to being sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for noncompliance with drug-testing rules.

Akane Yamaguchi overcame Olympic gold medalist Chen Yu Fei 21-18, 21-10 in the opening women's singles match, but Japan dropped two doubles matches and Sayaka Takahashi was beaten by He Bing Jiao 21-9, 21-18 in the second singles match at Ceres Arena.

France beat Spain 2-1 in Sunday's final at the San Siro stadium with goals coming from two of the finest forwards in the modern game -- Karim Benzema, who struck a beautiful shot into the corner and Kylian Mbappe who showed outstanding composure for the winner.

In an epic battle in front of 15,820 fans at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, both fighters were knocked down on multiple occasions in a contest full of improbable twists and turns as the two rivals traded blows.

WADA announced on Thursday that the National Anti-Doping Agencies (NADOs) of North Korea and Indonesia were ruled to be non-compliant for not implementing effective testing programs.

Japan's captain had angry words with a section of the home fans after the qualifying defeat in Jeddah on Thursday, after they were seen taunting him during a post-match interview.

The Premier League announced on Thursday that Newcastle had been sold to a group consisting of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media.

Kathryn Mayorga, a former model, alleges Ronaldo attacked her in a hotel room in 2009.

In a crazy end to the game Belgium thought they had won the pulsating contest minutes earlier but Romelu Lukaku's late effort was ruled out for offside by VAR.

A consortium featuring Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), PCP Capital Partners and billionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben struck a deal worth a reported £300 million ($408 million) to buy the club from unpopular owner Mike Ashley in April 2020.

The Japanese star, a former world number one, has not played since exiting the US Open in the third round last month.

The measures, which do allow spectators who are living in mainland China, were revealed with the Games just four months away and after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics similarly juggled with how to go ahead safely during the pandemic. 

Manchester United's returning hero rode to the rescue just in time to salvage a 2-1 win from another performance which cast more doubt over where the Red Devils are headed under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

City ended a poor run against Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea thanks to a Gabriel Jesus goal early in the second half.

Ronaldo, 36, rejoined United from Juventus in August after 12 years away, while Messi has swapped boyhood club Barcelona to join Paris St Germain.

The biennial competition, which features 11 countries, was originally scheduled to be played in late December 2020 but was postponed until this year due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Brunswijk may be second in line to the presidency, but he's captain of the Inter Moengotapoe football team. He's also the team owner.