“Ronaldo was an egotist in the dressing room – not like Beckham,” Forlan said to The Mirror. 

“Cristiano always wanted to be near a mirror. He spent all day looking in the mirror.” as the glamour boy of the United team

Beckham joined Real Madrid during the summer of 2003 with Ronaldo coming in as his replacement. The then 18-year-old Ronaldo would eventually go on to also replace Beckham as the glamour boy of Sir Alex Ferguson’s team. During his time at Old Trafford, the Portugal international went on to score 118 goals in all competitions from 292 games. He helped the club to win three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups, one Champions League and one Club World Cup before leaving the English club during the summer of 2009 to join Real Madrid himself.

Ronaldo would also go on to have a love-hate relationship with former team-mate Wayne Rooney with the duo undergoing many highs and lows during their years as team-mates.

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Forlan struggled at United

Forlan may have won the best player award after the 2010 World Cup and be a Uruguayan football legend but he largely struggled to establish himself during his time at United. During his time with the Red Devils, he went on to score just 10 goals from 63 appearances. He would go on to endure better success in Spain with Villareal and Atletico Madrid, the latter whom he helped to win the inaugural edition of the Europa League during the 2009/10 season. Forlan may be right in that Ronaldo puts a great deal of effort and thought towards his presentation as compared to the average footballer, though it may be debatable whether he can be considered to be an “egotist” because of that.

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“I still watch clips of loads of players, Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar.

“If they’ve done something at the weekend, I’d want to know how they’ve done it. Messi’s natural abilities are crazy. It’s a joy to watch him but also for the [way he uses] space” Rashford said, as quoted by The Times.

“I remember the first time I played Barcelona in pre-season [in Maryland, 2017], the team were like clockwork based around him.

“It wasn’t necessarily what Messi was doing on the ball that was, ‘Wow.’ It was the positions he was taking up, and how he affected a game without even touching the ball, that were also special.

“When I was younger, I’d watch games, watch clips on YouTube, then go out, and try everything. I watched Ronaldinho doing that flip-flap.

“I watched a lot of the Brazilian Ronaldo when I was really young.

“Ronaldo was the one that made you love the game and want to try things that people wouldn’t normally try. Just everything. It’s not scripted.”

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The 21-year-old is expected to lead the line on a regular basis for the Red Devils this season following the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan. He will be hoping to emulate the heroics that Ronaldo performed at Old Trafford between 2003-2009.

Rashford certainly started the season well on Sunday as United romped to a 4-0 victory against Chelsea as he went on to bag a brace. The other goals on the day came from Anthony Martial and Daniel James who came on as a substitute.

Rashford who has drawn comparisons to United’s all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney will be looking to improve upon the 13 goals which he scored in all competitions last season.

United lack a player as gifted as Cristiano Ronaldo right now

United currently lack an attacker who is as gifted as Cristiano Ronaldo and this is one of the reasons as to why they are not really expected to challenge for any major silverware this season. It will be considered impressive if they attain a top four finish while playing well in the Cup competitions and giving the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City a run for their money. They will also be hoping that the likes of young talent such as Rashford, Aaron Wan Bissaka, James and Mason Greenwood can blossom this season.

There is little chance of Ronaldo coming up against United this season

There is little chance of United coming up against Juventus this season. The only way that that could potentially happen is if the Old Lady of Italian football play poorly during their Champions League group stage games and drop down to the Europa League where United will play this season.

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1. Winning a major international trophy

Ronaldo has been the face of Portuguese football since his early 20s and Messi has also been the face of Argentinian football since his early 20s. Both Portugal and Argentina have been under-achievers in international football in recent decades and both countries have been considered one-man nations, which rely too heavily on Ronaldo and Messi, respectively.

Ronaldo ended his international trophy drought when he won the Euro 2016 Championships, with Portugal 20/1 with bookmakers to retain their title in 2020. As this review of matchbook shows, better odds may be available when betting directly against other players. Messi, meanwhile, has yet to win a major international trophy and at 31 years old, it remains to be seen if he will ever do so.

Ronaldo’s international stats also make for better reading. CR7 has managed 85 goals for his country from 156 appearances, while Messi has scored 65 goals for his country from 129 appearances.

2. Score more than 50 goals during six consecutive seasons

From the 2010-11 campaign until the 2015-16 season, Ronaldo scored more than 50 goals in six consecutive seasons. Messi, meanwhile, scored more than 50 goals in four out of those six seasons. Considering his advancing age, Messi may never score more than 50 goals over six consecutive seasons as Ronaldo did.

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3. Goals to game ratio in La Liga

Both Ronaldo and Messi are prolific scorers and are likely to find the back of the net every weekend. During his time in the La Liga, Ronaldo scored 311 league goals for Madrid from 292 games. He, therefore, scores an average of more than a goal a game.

Messi has so far scored 414 goals from 445 La Liga games and therefore averages slightly less than a goal per game. Messi may never be able to better Ronaldo’s goal to game record at this stage of his career.

4. Success in different leagues

One of the big criticisms of Messi is that he did not taste success outside of the La Liga or outside of Barcelona. Some critics argue that he would have not have fared as well had he been playing in England.

Messi never played nor won titles outside the La Liga. Ronaldo, by contrast, won three Premier League titles with Manchester United and also helped the Red Devils to win one Champions League title. In addition to his successes at the Santiago Bernabeu, he also helped Juventus to win the Supercoppa Italia this season. The Old Lady of Italian football also convincingly won the Serie A convincingly this season.

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The duo is widely considered to be the best two footballers of the modern generation. The pair dominated the Ballon d’Or for more than ten years between 2008-2018, before Croatia’s Luka Modric finally won the award this year.

Messi, who, like Ronaldo, is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has once again been in stellar form for Barcelona in La Liga this season, with the Blaugrana looking set to convincingly win the title. Ronaldo’s former club Real Madrid, meanwhile, look to be a shadow of their former selves, having struggled following his departure to Juventus last summer.

Messi and Ronaldo won’t be competing against each other domestically this term, but nor will they face off in the Champions League, either. The Blaugrana, having come through the quarter-finals comfortably after defeating Manchester United over two legs, are now 6/4 favourites to win the tournament outright, according to bookmakers in the UK. Juventus, however, were eliminated at the hands of relative minnows Ajax Amsterdam. The humiliating defeat ironically came after the Dutch club had knocked out Ronaldo’s former side Madrid in the previous round.

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Ronaldo was a key part of the Madrid setup over a decade of glory and played a key role in helping the side to win the past three consecutive Champions League titles. In terms of the La Liga, however, it was Messi who got the better of his rival on most occasions. During his stay with Madrid, Ronaldo won two La Liga titles. The 31-year-old Messi, meanwhile, has nine La Liga titles to his name.

Messi told Radio C5N that it was “lovely” playing against his rival in Spain, although he admitted being “annoyed” at having to see Ronaldo pick up so many awards, often at his expense.

The question of who is better between Ronaldo and Messi will always be a topic that is fiercely debated. Messi may enjoy more success as far as the La Liga goes. However, Ronaldo did manage to win Euro 2016 and boasts an international major trophy to his name, something Messi does not.

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Ronaldo had become arguably the best player in the Madrid squad over the years and left the club as its record goalscorer.  By joining Juve, Ronaldo ended a successful nine-year spell with Madrid. During that time, he made 438 appearances in all competitions for Los Blancos and scored 450 goals. His last game for Los Blancos came during the club’s 3-1 victory over Liverpool during the Champions league final.

The 34-year-old is believed to have been at odds with Madrid President Florentino Perez but opted not to say bad things about his former employer in the media.

When he was speaking about leaving Madrid to join Juventus, Ronaldo said: “I felt it inside the club, especially from the president, that they no longer considered me the same way that they did in the start,” he said. “In the first four or five years there I had the feeling of being ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’. Less afterwards. The president looked at me through eyes that didn’t want to say the same thing, as if I was no longer indispensable to them, if you know what I mean.”

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It is now perhaps clear that the reason as to why Ronaldo left Madrid was because he was feeling undervalued at the club that he helped win two La Liga titles, four Champions League titles and two Copa del Reys.

Ronaldo is now approaching the latter years of his career but he still appears to be as hungry as ever to carry on winning trophies. Despite his advancing years, CR7 has so far scored 24 goals from 36 games in all competitions for the Old Lady of Italian football. That is a record which even many footballers at the prime of their career would be proud of.

Will Ronaldo finally help Juve to break their duck and win the Champions League? Only time will tell. It will not be surprising to see the football maestro carry on playing the beautiful game until he is in his 40s. He still appears to be as hungry as ever to carry on playing the game at the highest level.

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Luka Modric ultimately ended up winning the most recent Ballon d’Or award to finally end the stronghold which Messi and Ronaldo have had over the award for more than a decade. Prior to Modric’s win, the last man apart from Ronaldo and Messi to have won the award was Kaka of AC Milan back in 2007.

“I don’t want to forget anyone, but I think that Neymar, (Kylian) Mbappe, (Eden) Hazard, Luis Suarez and (Sergio) Aguero are the best,” Messi told Radio 94.7 Club Octubre.

“I didn’t include Cristiano Ronaldo in that list, because I consider him to be on the same level as me.”

The reason why Messi did not name himself and Ronaldo in the list is because he considers them to be a cut above the rest. Messi has been brilliant once again this season and has so far scored 39 goals and assisted a further 21 in just 37 games.

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Ronaldo meanwhile has continued to excel despite having moved to the Serie A which is one of the toughest leagues in the world in to score on a regular basis. The 34-year-old has so far scored 24 goals from 36 games in all competitions for his club. Despite his age advancing, Ronaldo appears to be as hungry as a 23-year-old in terms of wanting success.

The Old Lady of Italian football look set to win yet another Serie A title as they have a massive 15 points advantage over second place Napoli. Real Madrid have struggled since the departure of Ronaldo last summer. Los Blancos suffered a humiliating Champions League exit at the hands of Ajax Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, Juve are set to play against Ajax in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition. Max Allegri’s side will be the firm favourites to reach the semi-finals of the competition.

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The likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp have been named in the international sports media as potential replacements for Zidane, with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said to be keen on the former option, who is the current manager of Tottenham in the Premier League.

However, amidst constant doubt over his future at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real’s undisputed number one star, Ronaldo, may also have some influence in Los Blancos’ decision. And, according to Spanish publication Diario Gol, the Portugal captain has his heart set on playing under a seemingly unlikely manager next.

Former Denmark international and Real Madrid veteran Michael Laudrup, whose managerial stints have included spells at Mallorca and Swansea, is a 33/1 outsider for the job when betting with Bethard and well down Perez’s shortlist – if even on it at all. However, Ronaldo is said to prefer the 53-year-old over the likes of Klopp, Pochettino and Arsene Wenger due to his technical prowess as both a player and coach, and his willingness to respect the senior players in Madrid’s squad.

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Laudrup has been at the helm of Qatari side Al-Rayyan since 2016, having been managing in the country since parting ways with Swansea in 2014. Certainly, if Real are to acquiesce to the demands of their influential forward, the Dane would surely be tempted to a return to Europe to manage one of the world’s greatest teams.

For his part, Ronaldo cast further doubt on his own future with Los Blancos following his side’s 3-1 Champions League final triumph over Liverpool last week. After initially speaking sentimentally about the club, telling reporters “it has been very nice being at Madrid” and that he would confirm his plans in “in the coming days”, Cristiano has since backtracked somewhat in subsequent interviews, but importantly, has yet to commit his future to Real by putting pen to paper on a long-tabled contract extension.

It is highly unlikely now that the Portugal captain will make an announcement on where he sees his future until after the World Cup concludes next month, but Real may use the intervening time to do everything they can to keep their prize asset. The first step towards achieving that goal could be to appoint a manager Ronaldo sees himself working with.

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Following PSG’s failures in the Champions League and the French giants’ need to comply with Financial Fair Play rules, a move could be on the cards during the summer if Neymar pushes for it to happen as he looks to shorten his 11/1 odds of winning the 2018 Ballon d’Or with winner sports.

Pini Zahavi represents Bayern Munich ace Robert Lewandowski and has been involved in some big deals over the years. He believes that Neymar made the right decision in choosing to leave Barcelona and go to join PSG last summer.

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Neymar is one player who certainly enjoys being the focal point of the teams he plays in and at Barcelona, this was no longer the case, especially as the Catalan giants boasted Lionel Messi.

In Neymar’s absence through injury, PSG were eliminated from the Champions League at the last-16 stage convincingly by Juventus.  The 26-year-old has been in good form this season for his club as he has gone on to score 29 goals and contribute 19 assists from 30 games.

“Neymar did what he had to,” Zahavi told Polish sports newspaper Przeglad Sportowy.

“There are only three football superstars – Messi, Cristiano and Neymar. They can’t play in one club.”

At PSG, Neymar has become the focal point of the team, but his side’s lack of success in the Champions League could be something that could convince the Brazil international to leave France.  Should Neymar join Madrid, he may struggle to become the focal point of the team as Ronaldo is one who also enjoys having this position and this could lead to a clash of personalities.

Zahavi does indeed have a point. At 33 years old, Ronaldo is now a veteran and approaching the latter years of his career. However, the maestro looks hungry as ever to compete at the highest level and play every minute of every game. Though Ronaldo’s form has dipped this season, he still has the fitness of a 23-year-old and it will not be surprising to see him play up to the age of 40.

If Neymar joins Los Blancos, the two could fight over team duties and this could affect squad chemistry and the confidence of the two players.

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This friendship was demonstrated following Real Madrid’s triumph against Juventus in the Champions League last week to reach the semi-finals of this season’s tournament. Los Blancos are now 2/1 favourites in the Sports Betting Markets to win European football’s elite prize.

With Juve 3-0 up going into second-half stoppage time, it looked as if we were going to have another Champions League classic on our hands after Madrid won the first leg 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

However, it was Ronaldo’s spot-kick that led to Madrid advancing after Mehdi Benatia was penalised for his challenge on Lucas Vazquez.

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The 40-year-old Buffon was furious at referee Michael Oliver’s decision to award a spot-kick and was awarded with a red card for showing dissent. Buffon made his frustrations known after the game, even going on to say that Oliver has a “garbage bin” in place of his heart.

It easy to see why Buffon is upset. This is in all probability the Italian legend’s last ever season as a professional footballer.  However, the keeper can still play at the highest level as he has proven this season and following his decision to come out of international retirement and play for Italy during the latest international break, one would not put it past Buffon to play for one more season.

Throughout his career, the Champions League winner’s medal is also one that has eluded him. He has been a losing finalist three times in his career, in 2003, 2015 and 2017.

Ronaldo: ‘I have a lot of respect for Buffon’

Buffon appeared to be calmer after Ronaldo appeared and interrupted one of his interviews, offering his condolences. The 33-year-old reportedly told the Italian: “I am sorry.”

Ronaldo also went on to praise the 2006 World Cup winner Buffon for being one of the greats of the game and expressed hope that the match would not have been his last Champions League appearance. “I have a lot of respect for Buffon, the words he has said about me, and what I’ve said about him,” Ronaldo told RTP.

“He is a great goalkeeper and I hope this is not his last Champions League appearance, he is one of the best goalkeepers ever.”

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Overall, the public perception of Ronaldo is very mixed, despite him currently being even-money to win the 2018 Ballon d’Or, which may prove a prudent use of a coupon code. Below are some of the main reasons people dislike Ronaldo.

1. Ability

Ronaldo has earned himself millions in cash as a result of his abilities on the pitch and has led Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal to major football trophies. Some people hate him simply because they are jealous of the money that he has and the success that he has achieved.

2. Arrogance

It can be argued that Ronaldo does not always answer questions in the most humble way. When asked about why opposition fans jeer him, he said: “It is because I am handsome, rich and a great player, because I am envied. I have no other explanation,”

He also once said: “They hate me because I am too good.’” While this may be somewhat true in some cases, it is also not the most humble thing to say.

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3. Behaviour

During the 2006 World Cup, Ronaldo got his then Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney sent off after the former Evertonian appeared to stamp on Ricardo Carvalho. After Rooney and Ronaldo had an exchange on the pitch, Ronaldo winked towards his team’s dugout and this was a questionable behavioural decision.

“Sometimes you do things because emotions are running high, but Wayne is my good friend,” Ronaldo told News of the World. “I can’t regret it because I think the whole experience made me stronger.”

4. Ego

Ronaldo has certainly been known to perform over-the-top celebrations at times after scoring a goal. Ronaldo’s past celebrations have included leg-muscle flexes as well as a reference to the number of goals he has scored.

What is more is that he opened a museum dedicated to himself and his achievements in Madeira, Portugal.

5. Clubs

The best times of Ronaldo’s career have been spent with Manchester United and Real Madrid, who are two polarising clubs in that they also have their equal share of lovers and haters. Real have managed to win 32 league titles and ten Champions League titles through their superior transfer budget compared to the majority of teams. Some argue that they have bought their success.

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