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London: Real Madrid possess the greatest player of all time at their disposal, according to Jose Mourinho.
The Real Madrid head coach believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is not only superior to peer Lionel Messi, but has surpassed the achievements of the greatest footballers of all time.
Mourinho made his claim ahead of Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford, the first time the Portuguese has played at the stadium since his £80m transfer to Madrid in 2009.
Saying that he was unconcerned about United’s efforts to deal with Ronaldo, Mourinho believes his player compares favourably against Pele and Diego Maradona.
“Cristiano is the best. The best in the world, yes. Probably the best ever. I saw Maradona a couple of times. I never saw Pele. But Cristiano is amazing. This man is the best,” Mourinho said in an interview.
Despite such high praise for his star man, Mourinho underlined the need for an excellent performance from the rest of his team also if Real want to win matches.
“We never say Cristiano is responsible when we lose a match and we can’t think he is the only one who wins it. Without the team he is nothing, but the team without him is not the same.”
Meanwhile, Alex Ferguson has claimed that the glamour and romance of facing Real Madrid at Old Trafford offers the perfect response to those questioning his reluctance to retire as Manchester United manager.
Ferguson insists that the magnitude of the fixture is what he lives for as the club’s manager. At 71, Ferguson has insisted that he still has no plans to walk away from his position at United, 26 years after arriving from Aberdeen as successor to the sacked Ron Atkinson.
The Scot claims that any decision on future which be based solely on his health and he is expected to remain at the helm at Old Trafford beyond this summer.
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