Cristiano Ronaldo’s former coach lashes out: “His career was already over at Juve”

Erik Ten Hag doesn’t mince words when talking about Cristiano Ronaldo in an interview with ESPN: the careers of the Dutch coach and the Portuguese superstar crossed paths at Manchester United, and the two certainly didn’t get along. Now Ten Hag is revisiting the issue, and he’s doing so by taking clear jabs at CR7.

“Every great team must make the most of its star player, but the star player must also know how to put the team first. That was simply the problem with Ronaldo. Let there be no misunderstanding on my part: he’s obviously a great player. He’s among the best in the world. But the reality is also that over the last seven or eight years, he hasn’t been able to perform at his best. Starting with Juventus, it was over.”

According to Ten Hag, Real Madrid let Ronaldo go because they considered him to be past his prime: “This is also Real Madrid’s great strength. They recognize when a player is losing his edge. At that point, they part ways with him at a time when, in the eyes of the outside world, he’s still at the peak of his career, but in reality, he’s no longer able to perform at his best.”

At Juventus, Ronaldo won two Serie A titles, scoring 101 goals in 134 games, but he was never able to make his mark in the Champions League.