Why Dani Alves called Cristiano Ronaldo a b*stard
Robin Bairner
- 16 Sep 2022 09:21 CDT
- 3 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo may only have got off the mark for the 2022/23 season with a penalty on Thursday, but he remains a player held in high esteem by his colleagues around the footballing world.
Ronaldo has spent much of the summer trying unsuccessfully to push for a move away from Manchester United, but it has been his high wages and playing style that has stopped any deal coming to fruition – not a lack of quality.
That fact has been underlined by old adversary Dani Alves, who is a veteran of many Clasico battles against Ronaldo, when they played with Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
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When he was asked by Marca who his toughest opponent was, Alves said: “Cristiano Ronaldo. This b*stard doesn’t let you breathe for a second. I didn’t do too badly, but it’s hard. He’s a scoring machine.”
Ronaldo, nevertheless, boasted an impressive record in El Clasico. He scored 18 goals in the fixture, which is a joint record for a Real Madrid play along with the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano. The only player to surpass him is Lionel Messi, but the Argentine played in substantially more matches than Ronaldo.
The pair also met in the 2017 Champions League final in Cardiff, albeit Dani Alves was at Juventus at that time. Inevitably, Ronaldo found the net twice in a 4-1 Real Madrid victory.
Who does Dani Alves play for now?
Since leaving Barcelona in 2016, Dani Alves joined Juventus, but he had departed for PSG by the time Ronaldo arrived in Turin.
After struggling to impose himself in the Ligue 1 side, he moved back to Brazil with Sao Paulo for a couple of years before leaving in late 2021. He then completed a shock return to Barcelona, signing in November last year but only being able to feature from the beginning of 2022.
He was not retained at the end of his short-term contract and is presently playing for UNAM in Mexico.
