Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he would have preferred to play his former club Manchester United in this weekend’s Champions League final in Kiev.
Madrid will face Liverpool in the final on Saturday as Los Blancos look to secure a third consecutive Champions League title, however, Ronaldo said that he would have liked to have faced his former club in Manchester United despite Jose Mourinho’s side exiting the competition before the quarter-finals stage.
“Finals are always special occasions: I would have preferred it to be Manchester United,” said Ronaldo at Madrid’s media day.
“But Liverpool deserve respect. We’re not going to have it easy. They deserve to be in the final.
“They remind me of Madrid three or four years ago. Their three front players, they’re very quick… they are powerful in attack and I respect them. But Madrid are better. We have to play to our level, but we also have to respect the opposition.”
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Ronaldo leads this year’s Champions League with 15 goals in 1088 minutes of football but Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren is confident his side are ready for the challenge of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“Throughout 15 years, every year he (Ronaldo) scores more than 30 goals,” Lovren said.
“Even if he has a bad season he scores 30 goals, so you need to pay attention to that.
“We play in the Premier League against some of the best strikers in the world and we know how to defend like a team.
“Of course some parts of the game it will be one-against-one. It will be tough but it’s a challenge that I’m ready for.”
