Claire Thomson
Manchester United and Liverpool supporters united in a fan-led heartfelt tribute in support of Cristiano Ronaldo and his family following the death of his baby boy.
Liverpool fans gathered together during the seventh minute of the match against Manchester United at Anfield on Tuesday. The number seven was significant as it is Ronaldo’s shirt number at Manchester United. During the seventh minute crowds both sides united to sing the Liverpool FC anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and applaud in memory of Ronaldo and partner Georgina Rodriguez’s baby boy.
On Monday, the Manchester United star and his partner announced the death of their baby boy, saying it’s the “greatest pain that any parents can feel”.
In October, the pair publicly declared that they were expecting twins. However, only their baby girl survived. They said her birth “gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness.”
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) April 18, 2022
Ronaldo was absent from Tuesday’s match between the two rivals.
A United shirt with Ronaldo’s name and number was displayed on Manchester United’s side of the pitch, with players from both teams wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for the Portuguese football player and his family.
Prior to the match, in which Liverpool won 4-0 to go two points clear at the top of the Premier League table, Manchester United’s interim boss Ralf Rangnick made it clear that there are more important things in life than football and that the whole club stands by him.
“So many things are much more important in life than football, we feel for Cristiano and his family,” – Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool Manager
Despite the four goals and monumental win, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp stated that the applause in tribute to Ronaldo’s baby boy was his “moment of the game.”
Klopp went on to state in a touching tribute to Ronaldo and his family that “So many things are much more important in life than football, we feel for Cristiano and his family,”. He continued to express that in moments such as these rivalry should be set aside voicing that “There is only one thing that is important and it was a show of class. All our thoughts, from the moment we heard about it, are with Cristiano and his family.”
“In actual fact it was wonderful. It was a brilliant show of support from human beings to another human being.”- John Murray, BBC Radio 5 Live Football Correspondent
BBC Radio 5 Live football correspondent John Murray, who was commentating on the game, described the tribute as “wonderful”.
The Radio 5 Live Correspondent went on to express slight apprehension after hearing about the tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo and his family, “After being at Wembley on Saturday where there was the disruption of the Hillsborough silence…you did think ‘I hope that goes off ok’.”
Murray continued to describe the tribute as “a brilliant show of support from human beings to another human being.”
Across social media, thousands of Ronaldo fans and other footballers and celebrities paid tribute to the unfortunate loss and showed their support for one of the world’s greatest sportsmen.
Feature image courtesy of Jack Hunter via Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes or alterations were made to this image.
Claire Thomson
Aspiring Sports Journalist and Modern Languages Student (French/German) at University of Glasgow