RONALDO’S SWIPE AT MESSI AND CO
CRISTIANO RONALDO took a swipe at Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar last night when asked if their bond off the pitch had given them the edge this season. Real Madrid’s all-time record scorer even claimed that he did not speak to some of his most celebrated Manchester United colleagues away from the game during his trophyladen spell at Old Trafford. Ronaldo had already been wound up by questions about his form and lack of away goals in recent games. So when asked ahead of today’s Champions League clash away at Roma if it was Messi’s relationship with Suarez and Neymar that had made them more effective than Real’s trio of Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, he did not hold back. ‘How do we know it is that way? Only because that is what gets written,’ he said. ‘When I was at United, I didn’t speak to Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or Rio Ferdinand, apart from the normal “good morning” — but we won the Champions League. ‘We talked on the pitch and that is all that mattered. Does it matter that I don’t go out for dinner with Benzema or that Bale does not come round my house? ‘It is not important. This thing about the little meals, the little hugs, the little kisses. To me that doesn’t mean anything.’ Ronaldo formed the most feared strikeforce in Europe with Bale and Benzema in the 2013-14 season and they won the club’s 10th European Cup together. But the following season they were eclipsed by Barcelona’s front three after Suarez arrived from Liverpool. Ronaldo appeared ruffled when asked about Messi’s penalty assist in the 6-1 win over Celta Vigo on Sunday. He rolled the ball from the spot into the path of Suarez, who sealed his hat-trick. ‘I know why he did it and I am not going to say anything more than that,’ said Ronaldo.