Chelsea have stood still, says Ronaldo

MANCHESTER UNITED winger Cristiano Ronaldo says Chelsea are ‘about the same as they were last year’ and ‘just do enough to win’ games while the Reds have got better.

He even claims that this United team can emulate the side of 1999 and win the Treble.

“I think we’re capable of winning everything — the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League,” Ronaldo said.

“Man United are fighting, as always, to win every trophy.

“I think Chelsea are about the same as they were last year. The transfers of Shevchenko and Ballack haven’t changed them too much in terms of their superiority to everybody else. They have to work harder to win games. They just do enough to win.”

Ronaldo also hopes he won’t be forced into one of his bizarre stress-relieving rituals this weekend.

The Manchester United winger is due to line up against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday knowing victory will take the Red Devils six points clear at the Premiership summit.

After suffering successive unexpected Champions League defeats which have left them teetering on the brink of yet another early European exit, a win would certainly help lift the sense of anxiety among the United faithful.

And it would also ensure Ronaldo’s TV stays in one piece given the way the Portugal star admitted he can react when things go against him.

“I have always been destructive. When I was mad once, I put a TV set in a tree and tried to take it down by kicking a football at it.

“I was mad. Really fed up, but it calmed me down.

“Sometimes, when I perform badly or when things don’t go the way I want, I come straight home, go to the small bedroom in my house, lock the door and just stay there.”

Given his performances for United this season, Ronaldo presumably has not had much use for the small bedroom recently.

However, like the rest of his Red Devils team-mates, the former Sporting Lisbon star is acutely aware of the importance of this game.

Should United win, Jose Mourinho’s star-studded side will be under the kind of pressure they have not faced since the Portuguese coach arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2004. Lose and question marks over the Red Devils’ durability will surface once more.

However, he is complimentary about Mourinho.

“He is a great coach and he is Portuguese, so I can’t speak badly of him,” said the 22-year-old.

Alex Ferguson will await a fitness report on Rio Ferdinand, who limped out of Parkhead on Tuesday after suffering a foot injury during the Champions League defeat to Celtic.

Either Wes Brown, Mikael Silvestre and John O’Shea could step in if Ferdinand was unavailable. Otherwise the only likely change to United’s starting line-up is the possible introduction of Patrice Evra for Gabriel Heinze at left-back.

Louis Saha is certain to retain his central striking role despite his last-minute penalty miss at Celtic, the fall-out from which Van der Sar believes has been exaggerated because of the timing of the Frenchman’s miss.

“Anyone can miss a penalty,” he said.

“It was unlucky for Louis that it happened in the 89th minute rather than the 70th, when we would still have had time to try and save the game.”