Ronaldo: It is not up to me to talk about Real Madrid's 'crisis'

Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2018 by Goal.com

The Portugal star is not interested in goings on around the Santiago Bernabeu, while he is looking forward to his return to Old Trafford

Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that Real Madrid's on-pitch "crisis" is no business of his as the Blancos continue to struggle without the record-breaking goalscorer.

Ronaldo left Madrid over the summer for Juventus, with only Mariano Diaz arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu to replace the Portugal international up front.

That decision has come back to haunt the club, who have looked uncharacteristically blunt in front of goal and even flirted with a record run without netting before Marcelo finally found the net against Levante on Saturday.

Madrid nevertheless went down 2-1 to the Valencia club, their third Liga defeat in four games, although Isco opined that nobody was "crying" over Ronaldo's absence.

And Cristiano was similarly dismissive when asked by reporters about his former employers.

"It's all right. You cannot cry," the forward said ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash between Juventus and Manchester United, another of his ex-clubs. "I do not have to talk about other clubs.

"Everyone knows the story I had at Real Madrid and what is important, tomorrow's game. It's not for me to talk about the crisis of others."

Ronaldo went on to praise old boss Sir Alex Ferguson, while anticipating a tough 90 minutes against the club where he became a superstar.

"It's a huge emotional thing for me to come back. I know all about the history. I won trophies here - cups, leagues, Champions League," he added.

"Sir Alex Ferguson is someone I will never ever forget and I'd like to express my best possible wishes to him.

"It will be a difficult game, we know United have a good team, they are at home, but we have our weapons and we have a chance.

"If we play good, the way the coach wants, we have a chance to win the game."

Juventus and Man United currently occupy the top two spots in Group H, with the Italians holding a perfect six points and the Reds two back having drawn against Valencia and beaten Young Boys so far.

Ronaldo, the Champions League's top scorer of all time, will be hoping for better fortunes this time round, after receiving a red card in his competition debut for Juve for a hair-pull on Valencia's Jeison Murillo.