Cristiano Ronaldo has, over the course of his long and storied career, faced some of the best defenders in the world, and ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday the 33-year-old has revealed the toughest player he has ever come up against: former Chelsea left back Ashley Cole. The 5-time Ballon D'Or winner has obviously forgot when he faced off against the imperious Dejan Lovren in 2015. Neymar
Cole and Ronaldo faced each other across six Premier League seasons, and while Cole is currently turning out for LA Galaxy, getting used to playing with the recently signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo is primed to win his third successive Champions League trophy, when Real Madrid face off against Liverpool in Kiev on Saturday.
The forward also stated on Spanish television programme El Chiringuito that he has a biological age of 23:
Right now, I’ve got a biological age of 23. I’ve still got a long time left, I can keep playing until I’m 41. I’m feeling good, happy, I can’t complain. We are playing another final on Saturday and the fans are behind Cristiano.
You'd have to take his claims with a pinch of salt, but there is no debate that the Portugese takes extremely good care of himself. Part of his post match rehabilitation includes swimming, hot and cold water baths, a high-pressured water jet to massage muscles, and a walk-in Cryotherapy chamber, worth around £50,000. And here I am complaining of doing a few warm down stretches.
Ronaldo also commented on the intense speculation linking PSG's Neymar with a move to the Spanish capital, with the former Manchester United winger remaining very diplomatic on the subject of any potential transfer:
I've been here for eight years and people always say 50 players are coming here but in the end no-one comes. In September people think lots of players are going to come but the ones who take us to finals are always the same ones.
The best players are already at Madrid. Bale, Benzema, (Lucas) Vazquez, (Marco) Asensio. They are all here.
