“I realise I have lied to you about this before, but that is because I had to”
Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed nine happy years playing down the left wing together for Real Madrid. They had a telepathic relationship akin to that of Dani Alves and Lionel Messi. When Ronaldo would drift inside, Marcelo would overlap and knew exactly where to put the ball for his teammate to finish.
This fruitful relationship on the pitch developed into a strong friendship off the pitch. As two of the team’s vice captains, both players became leaders within the dressing room as well as key components of Madrid’s team on the field.
So, you can imagine how heartbroken Marcelo was to hear that his friend and colleague was going to depart for a fresh challenge at Juventus.
The Brazilian has now revealed that he didn’t find out the shocking news until just before last season’s Champions League final, which Madrid won 3-1 against Liverpool in Kiev.
“Damn, we were training for the final and he told me: ‘I’m leaving’,” the left-back recalled.
“‘I realise that I have lied to you about this before, but that is because I had to,” Ronaldo explained, having made up his mind a while before this conversation took place.
Ronaldo didn’t waste any time after the Champions League final in hinting that he would be leaving Spain, telling interviewers on the pitch during the celebrations: “It was very nice to be at Real Madrid … In the coming days I will give a response to the fans, who have always been at my side.”
Ronaldo had made similar comments in the past, which always resulted in him getting a nice booster contract. But this time he was not bluffing, he was actually off. And it came as a shock to everyone, especially Marcelo.
