Former Barcelona and Juventus right-back Dani Alves recently talked about his long spanning career as he currently plies trade for Mexican side UNAM Pumas. The right-back has shared the dressing with some legends throughout his stellar career, with the most notable of them being seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi. However, he also has come up against some tough opponents with the 39-year-old picking Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest of all of them.
Ronaldo, currently with Manchester United has received some special praise from the veteran right-back, against whom he has contested a lot of times. The regularly clashed against each other from their time at Barcelona and Real Madrid. While Alves’ first stint with the Catalans was from 2008 to 2016, Ronaldo was with the Los Blancos for nine years, from 2009 to 2018.
Alves says “it’s hard” going up against Cristiano Ronaldo
With Dani Alves a right-back and Cristiano Ronaldo favouring the left-flank, the two often locked horns whenever their teams faced each other. Both the players fiercely contested tackles and duels as one overpowered the other many a times. However, Alves has now explained that the Portugal international never gave his opponent a breather during the game.
While talking to ESPN, Alves chose Cristiano as his toughest rival while also lavishing praise on the 37-year-old. The right-back said:
“Cristiano Ronaldo. This ba****d doesn’t let you breathe for a second. I didn’t do too badly, but it’s hard. He’s a scoring machine.”
Ronaldo indeed is a goal scoring machine in the true sense as his numbers itself tell the truth. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored a whopping 450 goals in 438 games for Real, while netting 101 in 134 for Juventus and bagging 143 in 338 games so far for Manchester United. However, this new season has been a bit harsh on the mercurial forward.
It is for the first time Champions League’s all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo has missed out on the tournament. He is featuring in the Europa League with United who finished sixth last season in the Premier League, as they missed the ticket to Champions League. Add to his frustration, Ronaldo who desperately wanted to leave Old Trafford this summer failed to find a new suitor.
His goal scoring exploits too have been unimpressive, as the forward only scored his first goal of the season against FC Sheriff in the last game. Moreover, new manager Erik ten Hag has regularly benched the Portuguese, handing him just 3 starts in 8 games so far.
Nonetheless, Ronaldo is currently said to be focused on the FIFA World Cup with Portugal which is slated to kick-off in two months time. And he is also reported to be eager to find a new ‘Champions League club’ in the January transfer market which follows the World Cup.