Cristiano Ronaldo's refusal to come on as a substitute against Tottenham can be put down to him being the kind of player who "can't accept being left out", says former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes.
Ronaldo was temporarily exiled from first-team activities by Ten Hag after refusing to enter the fray in United's 2-0 win over Spurs, before making a goalscoring return in Thursday's 3-0 Europa League victory over Sheriff.
The 37-year-old top-scored for United with 24 goals in all competitions last season, but has only made two Premier League starts since Ten Hag took charge.
Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra have defended former team-mate Ronaldo since the incident, and Scholes has now joined them, saying he understands the striker's frustration with his new back-up role.
"The longer the game goes on, the more upset you get, the red mist comes over you," Scholes told BT Sport.
"You're not thinking properly. For him [Ten Hag] to ask him to come on with two minutes to go, he will think: 'Is he taking the mickey out of me?'
"He thinks he should be playing every single game, and some players just can't accept being left out. The longer that game went on, the more and more furious he got.
"I think the manager has to show a bit of common sense. You're looking back at an experienced player, and you're asking them to come on in a game that's won.
"I've heard a lot of people say Sir Alex would have gone crazy or mad, but I don't think he would have done that. With two minutes to go, you bring a young kid on or give someone his debut.
"I think it's disrespectful towards Cristiano, but it's difficult to say it's disrespectful because it's the manager's job, and he's got every right to ask him to come on.
"It's clear Cristiano isn't in his plans. He doesn't see him as part of his team in the big games in the league, the big European games later in the competition, he sees him more as a substitute."
Scholes was speaking from experience, having refused to play for United in an EFL Cup tie against Arsenal back in 2001, and he sympathises with Ronaldo despite his mistake.
"It's difficult to explain your emotions at the time," Scholes added. "It was a low point of my career, something I look back on and really regret – it was so wrong to do.
"I sympathise with Cristiano. He did the wrong thing but your head completely goes.
"That's what probably happened with Cristiano, he's had a similar way of thinking where he's been left out of a game, so he will be raging.
"He's still not come on and he will be thinking, 'I can come on, score three or four goals against this team, easily'."
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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