Cristiano Ronaldo has challenged his Manchester United teammates to 'prove themselves' against Atalanta on Wednesday, but has warned that there are 'no excuses.'
United return to Champions League action against the free-scoring Italians in a rotten run of form, having won just two of their last seven games.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side are now facing a string of much tougher opponents, with Saturday's 4-2 defeat at Leicester City starting a run in which they will also come up against Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City in the Premier League, while facing Atalanta home and away in Europe.
The Bergamo-based club have finished top goal scorers in Serie A in each of the last three seasons and will likely pose a great threat in their two matches.
Both encounters should have a massive bearing on how Group F will unfold, with Atalanta currently top of the table on four points with United and Young Boys both on three from two games each.
With so much riding on the match, Ronaldo has called for his teammates to put in a good display.
"Our time is coming!" he wrote in an Instagram post.
"We have to show what we are made of and the Champions League is the perfect competition to prove ourselves to the world. No excuses! Let’s go!"
Ronaldo has come in for criticism for his performances in recent weeks, as his lack of pressing from the front has made United easy to play around.
But Solskjaer leapt to his defence during his pre-match press conference and called everyone to fulfil their roles.
"We’ve got 11 players out there on the pitch, we’ve got different roles and responsibilities, we put a team out that we really thought was going to win that game. We didn’t win against Leicester so there is always going to be criticism," he said.
"Cristiano is a top player, we know what he can do for us and he’s doing everything he can do to help the team."
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