Ronaldo: Roma players begged me to ease up

Cristiano Ronaldo has stoked the fire ahead of Manchester United’s UEFA Champions League clash with Roma tonight, after claiming the Italian side’s players “begged” him to stop tormenting them last season.

A 7-1 victory for Alex Ferguson’s charges last term, at the quarter-final stage, is likely to play heavy on the minds of Roma’s players ahead of the Old Trafford clash.

Ronaldo was at his effervescent best that evening and is aiming for a similar performance when Luciano Spalletti brings his side to Manchester tonight.

The Italian tactician has insisted that he does not view the game as being some kind of revenge mission, but Ronaldo’s words are likely to provide the type of motivation he will have been hoping to conjure among his players.

Claiming Roma’s beleaguered side asked to be spared further embarrassment on a night that will live long in United folklore, Ronaldo can expect a hostile reception from those he has exposed.

“When we were already winning 6-0 one of their players said ‘don’t do any more dribbles, you’re already winning by six’, almost begging,” Ronaldo revealed, in his new book Moments.

“Obviously I won’t reveal his name, as these are comments brought about by occurrences in the game.

“Other players ask me to go to play on the opposite side, and others don’t show any sense of humour when they make threats to my physical integrity.

“I know that they are merely trying to scare me.

“But these comments are worthless, for I keep playing exactly the same way.”

Article courtesy of the Evening Echo newspaper.