Berbatov: Training with Ronaldo was ‘like a war’

Dimitar Berbatov has heaped praise on former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo for his commitment.

Ronaldo is 36 next month but he continues to show no sign of age for both Juventus and Portugal. The attacker has 12 goals from just ten outings for the Italian giants so far this season.

This takes his goal tally for Juventus up to 77 from just 99 outings. Before moving to Serie A, Ronaldo enjoyed a remarkable nine-year spell in Spain with Real Madrid.

F365 FEATURES: Dissecting Man Utd’s off-the-record reasons for optimism…

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner won everything there is to win during his time in Spain. In that time, he scored 450 goals from his 438 outings in all competitions.

Berbatov and Ronaldo spent one year together at United, during the 2008/09 campaign. The Red Devils won the double that season, as they lifted the Premier League and the League Cup.

Berbatov told Marca, as cited by The Daily Mail, that training with Ronaldo was “like a war” because of his passion for winning.

“I’ve been a lucky guy to share that season together. He took extreme care of himself. You came to train and he was already in the gym.

“Then he would stay to do extra work shooting on goal. He would finish, and he would go swimming and go back to the gym. He was determined to be the best.

“Training with him was like a war because I didn’t think about anything other than winning everything, including the little games we organised.

“But that wasn’t bad, on the contrary. Cristiano, he was a good kid who increased the competitive atmosphere of the team.

“He was fun and affectionate. At the Christmas parties we organized the players had a great time, but very professional. I never saw him drink even on those days.

“When Cristiano retires, of course, other stars will arrive, but until he and Messi hang up their boots, we will not realize the size of these two athletes that we now see every day.”