Cristiano Ronaldo was presented as a new Juventus player yesterday. And some of the questions naturally focused on his former club Real Madrid, where he spent nine years, scoring 450 goals and winning numerous trophies including four Champions Leagues.
Asked about the move, Cristiano Ronaldo said it “was an easy decision” to join Juventus and simply put an end to his career at Real Madrid, where he’d “spent a long time”. Not a “wonderful time” or a “marvellous time”. Simply a “long time”. One of the journalists asked him if he was sad to be leaving Real Madrid. The short, brutal answer for Real Madrid: “Not at all!” with a smile on his face. To rub the effect in, Ronaldo made sure to say he was “coming to a big club”.
Surely the man who has lapped up the worship from the Bernabéu would have something to say to his fans back in the Spanish capital… but asked about what message he would send to the Real Madrid fans who are “crying today”, Ronaldo said simply that he didn’t think “they were crying”. As to what the move to Juventus means for Cristiano Ronaldo overall, the striker remarked “it’s a step up in my career”. A comment almost designed to hurt every Real Madrid fan.