Man Utd team news update: Edinson Cavani ruled out

Manchester United head to Spain to take on Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday night.

Ahead of the game, Ralf Rangnick has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference today and United’s interim boss has provided an update on the fitness of Edinson Cavani.

The Uruguayan international has been restricted to making just one appearance over the past month due to a niggling groin injury that he picked up during the winter break in January.

Rangnick has confirmed the 35-year-old is still having issues with his groin and has been unable to take part in full training for ‘a couple of weeks’.

Therefore, Cavani has been ruled out of the trip to Spain and won’t take part in Man Utd’s clash with Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium tomorrow night.

Cavani out

Rangnick told ManUtd.com:

“Edi will not make the trip. He didn’t train and hasn’t been training for a couple of weeks. He has problems with his groin and, as long as he doesn’t feel ready to fully sprint, it doesn’t make sense to train him.”

Elsewhere, Nemanja Matic is back in contention after making his injury return with a place on the bench during Man Utd’s hard fought 4-2 win over Leeds United at the weekend.

The Red Devils don’t appear to have picked up any fresh injury concerns following the win at Elland Road. However, goalkeeper Tom Heaton remains on the sidelines with a groin problem while Mason Greenwood remains unavailable for selection.

Rangnick may decide to freshen things up for the first leg clash with Atletico. Young attacker Anthony Elanga will be hoping to start after scoring off the bench on Sunday afternoon.

The likes of Alex Telles, Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane and Marcus Rashford are also pushing for recalls after being benched against Leeds.