Cristiano Ronaldo has made a bold prediction for who he thinks will win the Champions League this year, while accepting two honours at the Dubai Global Soccer Awards.
The Portuguese icon has lifted the prestigious trophy five times in a glittering career, first tasting glory with Manchester United in the 2007-08 final against Chelsea.
He went on to win the Champions League four times with Real Madrid, a club at which he scored an eye-watering 450 goals in 438 games across a nine-year spell.
Ronaldo has continued his goalscoring exploits since departing the Bernabeu in 2018, bagging 101 times for Juventus and 74 so far for current club Al-Nassr.
Last night, he collected gongs for the Best Middle Eastern player and the Top Goalscorer of all time at a glitzy gala to mark the Dubai Global Soccer Awards.
And after stepping onto the stage, he gave his views on some of football’s biggest talking points and backed one of his former sides to lift the Champions League come May.
Cristiano Ronaldo has made a bold prediction as to who will win the Champions League
The Portuguese won the famous trophy four times with Los Blancos between 2009 and 2018
His old side are struggling in the tournament this season and lie perilously in 20th place
The 39-year-old said: ‘Teams always have their good and bad moments. Now Manchester City have gone through a bad moment but they will come back.
‘I would tell City to their players that they have to show more and not talk now. The great players know where the problem is.
‘As for Madrid, in the end they are always there, you can never give them up for dead. I would bet on Real Madrid winning the Champions League again, because all the other teams are scared when they play Madrid at the Bernabéu.
‘I would bet on Madrid because they always come back. They had difficulties at the beginning, but then they have improved.’
Real currently sit in 20th in the Champions League with just nine points in six games, leaving them in the 9th-24th play-off zone.
They have endured a tough season in the competition synonymous with them but produced a confidence-boosting victory over Atalanta earlier this month.
Ronaldo also shed light on the managerial acumen of Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who coached the Portuguese at Los Blancos between 2013 and 2015.
‘When people ask me why Carlo is a good coach, I always say that he knows how to negotiate with players one by one,’ he added.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti has come under attack lately but Ronaldo issued a defence for him
He lifted two titles at the Dubai Global Soccer Awards after a hatful of goals for Al-Nassr
Ronaldo also claimed he could be the man to turn around Manchester United’s fortunes
‘That is key to achieving success, so it is not a coincidence that he has won everything. As well as being a good man, he is a very intelligent guy.’
In a remarkably revealing interview, the legend also incredibly pitched the idea of returning to Manchester United for a third stint – but this time as club owner.
He also backed Ruben Amorim by insisting his fellow countryman is not to blame for the Old Trafford club’s current problems.
Amorim is starting to feel the pressure after United dropped down to 14th spot in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat at Wolves on Boxing Day but Ronaldo has intimated he knows what needs to happen to awaken the sleeping giants.
Speaking on Friday, Ronaldo insisted a significant overhaul would be required for the club to return to its former glory.
‘[The] Premier League it’s the most difficult league in the world,’ he said.
‘All the teams are good, all the teams fight, all the teams run, all the teams are strong. Football is different right now. There’s no easy games any more.
‘They need, I said this one year and a half ago, and I will continue to say it: The problem is not the coaches, it’s like… I always give this example… it’s like an aquarium.
The 39-year-old appeared at the Globe Soccer Awards ceremony on Friday, accompanied by his partner, Georgina Rodriguez
Ronaldo’s ill-fated return to United ended acrimoniously in 2022, after he publicly criticised the way the club was ran
‘If you have the fish inside and he’s sick and you take him out and you fix the problem and you put him again in an aquarium you will be sick again.
‘The problem of Manchester United is the same. The problem is not always the coach. It’s much more than that.’
In addition to highlighting the problems that he believes have caused the club to stagnate in recent years, Ronaldo also made the bold claim that he personally could be the man to fix them.
He continued: ‘If I will be the owner of the club, I will make things clear and adjust things that are bad there.’
