Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand, says that he hopes that Cristiano Ronaldo‘s emotions will take the better of him, when he faces the Red Devils again on Wednesday.
Both players spent six years together at Old Trafford and the former England international still believes the 28-year-old has some form of attachment for the club, which may affect his performance.
“It’s obviously going to be an emotional night for Ronaldo and a great night for him too,” Ferdinand told the Daily Mirror. “But hopefully it gets too emotional for him.
“We’ve had a few texts, but when you get into a situation like this when you’re coming up against a friend, all the texts and the conversations go to one side and you don’t really speak until you actually get the game over and done with.
“He has a great rapport with the fans and there is a mutual respect between them both, which is great. The fans appreciated him when he was here and since he’s been gone they sing his name. He came here a young boy and left a world-class player. He showed a lot of respect when he left and still does.”
Ferdinand, who was rested against Everton, however said if that doesn’t work, they would attempt to stop him from shining.
“We’re going to have to use all of our experience, courage and ability to make sure that we stop not only Ronaldo, but the other players they have, because Real are a great team.
“They have so many other weapons. We could shut Ronaldo down for 90 minutes, but they still have players to hurt us, so we have to be compact and work hard.”
Comments