Cristiano Ronaldo 101

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres admits he’s been blown away by Cristiano Ronaldo this season.

The Spaniard says there’s nobody else like the Reds’ no.7 and thinks Ronaldo is good enough to tear apart Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.

“He is so good he puts United on his shoulders and carries them in every game,” Torres said.

“Barcelona will have to cover him because he can give United a great chance to qualify for the final. If he feels comfortable and takes the game to the opposition, things will be complicated for Barca.”

Torres’ praise didn’t stop there, either. The 24-year-old, who’s scored 30 times for Liverpool in his first season in England, believes the winger is in a class of his own.

“Cristiano is at another level,” Torres said. “He’s above all other players in the world. He’s a complete player.”

[Manutd]

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted he gets angry reading speculation about his future.

The Portugal international is currently in top form, scoring 37 goals this season, and links with the continent’s leading clubs are never far away.

But the 23-year-old has stressed once again he is happy at Old Trafford.

‘I just don’t care what the whole world seems to want to say about me or speculate about my future,’ he told The Sun.

‘I’ve said it a thousand times and, by now, people should realise… I’m totally happy at United.

‘I’m in the form of my life and I’m having the season of my career so far so it makes me mad sometimes to read some of the things which are supposed to be related to my future.

‘I get angry but I’m trying to accept it’s a waste of energy to be furious because it is not worth it.’

[Soccernet]

Cristiano Ronaldo broke the wrist of a fan in the stands accidentally when a 68-year-old Middlesbrough fan was hit by Ronaldo’s volley during last Sunday’s 2-2 Premiership draw. [Sunday Mirror]

Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo admits he is driven to be named the world’s greatest player.

The Portuguese ace missed on the prize last year finishing third behind Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Milan’s Kaka.

“The focus is on winning the Champions League and the Premier League. We have the opportunity to do that and we have the players,” Ronaldo told the News of the World.

“But of course it’s my aim to be the best in the world. I want to be the best in the world and that’s what I work towards every day.

“But only God knows whether I will one day manage to win that prize which is so important for me as a player.”

[Sky]

Manchester United claimed a comfortable 3-0 victory against Liverpool to edge closer to their Premier League title, thanks to some uncharacteristic play by Liverpool players.

Both sides were pretty even in the first 15 minutes, but United started to show more control later on, with Paul Scholes bossing the midfield.

Headers from Wes Brown gave United the lead on 34th minute, thanks to a mistake from Liverpool’s goalie Pepe Reina. Javier Mascherano made United’s life much easier by getting himself sent off just before half time with his second yellow card for dissent.

United continued to dominate the match in the second half. Liverpool did show a flash of hope in the 70s minute, but Ronaldo’s 79th minute header ended their hope altogether, before Nani pounced in United’s third on 81st minute.

It was Ronaldo’s 34th goal (25th league goal) of the season, and his first ever goal against Liverpool.

Ronaldo became United’s savior again by scoring the only goal of the match against Derby on Saturday.

Ronaldo scored on the 76th minute thanks to a nice run-and-cross from Wayne Rooney. That’s Ronaldo’s 22nd Premier League goal and his 31st in total of the season.

Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has started libel proceedings over a newspaper article alleging he was fined £8,000 (€10,506) in one day for using his mobile phone during training.

Top London law firm Schillings announced that it has issued libel proceedings at the High Court against News Group Newspapers, owners of The Sun.

The libel claim follows publication of an article headed “Text-Mad Ronaldo fined £8k, Fergie’s Fury on phone ban. Exclusive”, which alleged that the footballer was fined £8,000 in one day by his manager, Alex Ferguson, for using his mobile phone four times during training.

Simon Smith, Ronaldo’s solicitor in London, said: “Our client is a professional footballer who takes his training very seriously.

“The Sun article wrongly accuses him of being unprofessional and he felt he had to take legal action in order to protect his reputation.” [Iol]

So… the ‘phone addication’ story is not true then?

Ronaldo scored his 30th goal of the season and probably the most important goal so far to give Manchester United a 1-0 victory against French side Lyon at the Champions League match.

United qualified to the quarter finals with a 2-1 aggregate, while securing their 10th straight home victory in the competition, equalling Juventus’ record set 11 years ago.

Ronaldo scored the goal on 41st minute in front of a chaotic goalmouth.

Both Rooney and Ronaldo scored a double to give Manchester United a 5-1 win against Newcastle at St James Park.

It was a good team performance from the Red Devils, but Newcastle really made MU’s victory a lot easier with their sloppy play. They seemed to lack confidence with the ball and made way too much mistakes. In fact, 3 out of the 5 goals could be prevented if they could show just a bit more steadiness when defending or when holding the ball.

It was a great game from Ronaldo though. He did well to assist Rooney with the game opener on 25th minute before bagging a goal on each half himself (45th and 56th minute), before Abdoulaye Faye crawled one back for United on 79th minute.

Rooney installed the lead just a minute later with his second on 80th minute. Saha then completed Newcastle’s misery in injury time.

The win closed the gap between the title racers, as Arsenal could only managed a draw against Birmingham in an earlier match. Manchester United are currently 3 points behind the Gunners.

Manchester United have complained to Uefa that winger Cristiano Ronaldo was dazzled by a laser beam ahead of their Champions League match at Lyon.

The incident allegedly occurred in the warm-up before the last-16 first leg tie but Ronaldo showed no ill effects during United’s 1-1 draw in France.

Television pictures suggested Ronaldo was also targeted when running with the ball during the first leg of the last-16 clash at Stade Gerland, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

[BBC]