Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes one Manchester United star handled pressure in the same way as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi during a famous moment in his managerial spell at Old Trafford.
The 51-year-old former Manchester United manager returned to Old Trafford as caretaker manager in 2018 after Jose Mourinho was dismissed from his post.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer oversaw a scintillating run during his time as caretaker manager, with the Norwegian winning 14 of his first 19 matches in charge.
The United legend was appointed as Jose Mourinho’s permanent successor in 2019, with Solskjaer continuing to build on his time as manager at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer emulated a feat that Mourinho had achieved at United by leading the Red Devils to a second-place finish in the Premier League in the 2020-21 season.
The 51-year-old former United star fell short of lifting major silverware as the head coach of the club after his side were beaten by Villarreal in the Europa League final.
Despite being reunited with ex-United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the 2021-22 season, Solskjaer was axed in 2021 after a poor start to the campaign.
Solskjaer’s praise for Man Utd star
One of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s most famous moments as Manchester United manager came during the knockout phase of the Champions League in 2019.
United had suffered a 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain at Old Trafford in the first leg of the round of 16 before travelling to the Parc des Princes for the return leg.
Romelu Lukaku scored a superb brace in the first half, but Juan Bernat also found the back of the net for PSG as United fought an uphill battle in Paris.
However, United punched their ticket to the quarter-finals after a dramatic VAR intervention in injury time ruled that Presnel Kimpembe was at fault for handball.
Following a lengthy wait before the penalty was taken, Marcus Rashford stepped up and beat Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon to seal a famous 3-1 win for United.
Speaking on Marcus Rashford’s penalty, Solskjaer insisted that the United star showed the same mentality as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the situation.
“Players who can handle that pressure are the best: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and, after 94 minutes, Marcus with that penalty – a brilliant one, right in front of the away fans, to send us through to the quarter-finals,” he told FourFourTwo magazine.
“I ran across the pitch to celebrate with the players and the fans in the rain. Then we went back to the dressing room. It was electric.”
Solskjaer on Man Utd message for PSG clash
Solskjaer admitted he had offered his players “belief” ahead of the second-leg PSG clash and United are the type of club that have “always thrived in adversity.”
Speaking on the PSG match, he said: “Paris looked impossible. The television commentator said it was mission impossible to score three times in Paris – I know that, because I’ve watched it and all my United games back.
“But I wanted to give my players belief. That’s when I said: ‘Mountains are there to be climbed.’
“Manchester United have always thrived in adversity, have never been a club that have given up.
“We worked hard for two weeks ahead of the game in Paris. We targeted a couple of their players – I don’t think it’s respectful of me to name them – but we thought they would make mistakes under pressure.
“We targeted their mentality, which I felt was confidence bordering on arrogance. We knew they would try and outplay us, but that would give us opportunities.”