Cristiano Ronaldo is probably the greatest player in the history of Real Madrid. The Portuguese won numerous accolades with the Spanish club including a three-peat UCL. But his comeback to the club was stopped by one individual which resulted in Ronaldo leaving Europe.
Ronaldo had a rough start to the season with his previous club Manchester United. He was left on the bench for several key games by Erik ten Hag which resulted in a tiff between the player and manager.
Cristiano came out in an interview with Piers Morgan lashing out at the Dutch manager, United board, and owners. This resulted in the mutual contract termination between the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner and the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo is to leave Manchester United by mutual agreement, with immediate effect.
The club thanks him for his immense contribution across two spells at Old Trafford.#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 22, 2022
Ronaldo was then allegedly offered to Real Madrid during the World Cup in a sensational comeback move. But this move was stopped by Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, who didn’t want to sign the legendary forward.
Ancelotti previously managed Cristiano Ronaldo from 2013-15 during which the club won its 10th UCL trophy. Ronaldo was a key member of the Madrid squad back in the day but his age might have stopped the Italian from re-signing him.
🎙 Cristiano Ronaldo:
“La Decima with Real Madrid is a moment that will be engraved in my memory forever, I will never forget. When you sign for Real Madrid you feel that winning the Champions League is a kind of obsession, everyone there was obsessed with winning the 10th.” pic.twitter.com/0cSFn8k9i2
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 12, 2023
Cristiano had to look at other options after Ancelotti’s refusal and had to leave Europe. He signed for the Saudi Arabian club, Al-Nassr, in a $200 million per year contract making him the highest-paid player in soccer. Ronaldo has regained his form ever since. Previous comments by his current manager have suggested that he might even return to Europe if he continues his superb form.
Carlo Ancelotti’s past comments on Cristiano Ronaldo paint a different story
Ancelotti previously defended Ronaldo when the whole world and media were going against him. Ronaldo was accused of having an attitude problem resulting in his termination from Man United and then the ouster from Portugal’s first XI during the World Cup.
Ronaldo was left out of key games by Fernando Santos during the World Cup. It was reported that the Portuguese was unhappy with this treatment and was labeled as a problem.
The legend Cristiano Ronaldo in Carlo Ancelotti’s best XI of players he has coached. pic.twitter.com/3ygynXOlSM
— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) March 27, 2023
But Carlo Ancelotti came in support of Ronaldo and stated that his attitude on the field was brilliant. He even went on to say that Ronaldo acted as a problem solver during his time at Real Madrid rather than being a problem himself.
He said: “Cristiano trains well, he pays attention to detail, everything was easy for me to manage. I’ve coached him for two years and there were no problems. In fact, he solved them for me.”
This statement by Ancelotti paints a different story than what he had done in the background by refusing to sign Ronaldo. It seems like Ancelotti is trying to hide the reality from the media to protect himself and his club from criticism.