Mmasekepe Matsebane
When Cristiano
Ronaldo made a staggering £80m move from Manchester
United from Real Madrid, he was on devastating form and many thought he was on a form of his life.
Fast forward
three and half years and the Portuguese forward is making an emotional return
to Old Trafford and he is on a different level altogether, virtually unstoppable
and unplayable.
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| Still Got It: Ronaldo scores against his former side. |
Jose
Mourinho’s side has been rampant lately with Sir Alex Ferguson’s former star intensifying
the debate of who is the best player in the world when he put in two dominant performances
against rivals Barcelona in one week.
Ferguson
was well in the stands on a spying mission as his former match winner tormented
Barcelona defenders, scoring twice in the first of the two Classicos.
With
Madrid seemingly giving up on the La Liga title race, Ronaldo wants to win the
Copa Del Rey and the Uefa Champions League looks
appetising to the player who won it in 2008.
The
fact that Madrid’s biggest stars were rested in the weekend win over Barcelona
shows how much the 50 year-old coach Setubal-born Mourinho is banking on a mind-blowing
performance against his old rivals.
 |
| Ronaldo has evolved into a beast since he left United. |
Ronaldo
got a second half cameo role in the second Classico but could not get on the
score sheet. Before he came on, Lionel Messi was running the show, but as soon
as the 28 year old came on, the game changed completely.
Although
the forward did not score in the second El Classico, his darting runs and flawless free kicks must have given United
goalkeeper David De Gea a warning shot that the Portuguese will be devastating
in the stadium that made him a cult figure in Manchester.
United
know very well that the 1-1 score-line recorded in the first round at the
Santiago Bernabéu will
mean little as an avalanche of goals will certainly be witnessed at the theater
of dreams.
Champions
League 2000 provided the same score-line and The Red Devils thought they had
one foot in the door. Madrid legend Raul produced a master performance to dumb
United out of the tournament. Who knows, this could be the season where another
Ronaldo gets a standing ovation from United fans after Brazilian Ronaldo did when
he scored a hat trick in 2003.
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| Remember This? Ronaldo in United colours back in 2008. |
Wayne
Rooney and Shinji Kagawa also fired a warning of their own when they crushed Norwich
City 4-0, with the England striker scoring a cracker from just outside the box.
The 2008
Ballon d’Or winner told the Mirror that his side is beaming with confidence.
”We
played better than Barcelona, scoring three goals in the Nou Camp is extremely
difficult. We must continue with this confidence. We will go to Manchester full
of confidence. La Liga is less important because we are a lot
of points behind, we need to look more at the cup and the Champions League, but
certainly we will go there to do our best,” said Ronaldo.
mmasekepem@thenewage.co.za
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