Ronaldo will not return to Manchester United next season

In an interview granted to the DailyMail, Carlo Ancelotti had no problems in admitting that Real Madrid may currently be depending too much on Cristiano Ronaldo. The Italian manager also stated that the Portuguese superstar won't be joining Manchester United anytime soon and that he will most likely finish his career in his current club.

Ahead of a very important week for Real Madrid, where the European champions are set to face Liverpool in a mid-week UEFA Champions League fixture and Barcelona next Saturday for the first Clasico of the season, Carlo Ancelotti agreed to talk with the DailyMail, a popular newspaper in England. In what turned out to be a very short interview, the focus was naturally put on the Merengues' biggest star of all, the Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo. The Italian manager confirmed that CR7 has indeed been the best football player he has ever coached and that Manchester United fans have no reasons at all to keep deluding themselves about the possibility of Ronaldo joining them next season.

Carlo Ancelotti: "I think that it's more than natural that we currently have a sort of a 'Cristiano-dependency' in the team. If Real Madrid were to lose a player like Cristiano Ronaldo, we'd be losing someone who is capable of scoring in every single game we go into...", started by stating the Italian manager, who recently also commented that starting a game with Ronaldo is like starting it already one goal up...

Much has been said about Manchester United's interest in CR7 and about Ronaldo finishing his career in Real Madrid. In Carlo Ancelotti's view, there's no reason to believe that the 29-year old could decide going anywhere else at this stage of his career.

Ancelotti: "Everyone can be replaced in a football club, but right now, Cristiano Ronaldo is quite simply the best player in the world. If he were to leave us, it would be a massive loss. That won't happen though, because I believe that Ronaldo will finish his career in Real Madrid", convincingly affirmed 55-year old manager, who has been coaching Ronaldo since the summer of 2013.


Ancelotti: "I feel 100% secure to say that Ronaldo won't go to Manchester United next season. I can't be wrong about that, because he's extremely happy here in Madrid, and he's very loved by everyone around him. The club is delighted to have the best player in the world in its ranks. The way I see it, there's a perfect relationship between club and player."

Even though starting Ronaldo almost guarantees your team to always score at least a goal, that doesn't necessarily mean that Real Madrid will be capable of visiting Liverpool in Anfield and easily come out with the 3 points.

Carlo Ancelotti: "Cristiano Ronaldo can indeed score against Liverpool on Wednesday, but we may still end up losing 2-1 or 3-2. However and according to statistics, we can always count on Ronaldo to deliver at least a goal... We're talking about a player who has scored close to 280 goals in 250 games for Real Madrid and that's obviously a great advantage for us", remarked the former AC Milan and Chelsea manager.


Ancelotti: "It wasn't an easy decision for me to come out publicly and state that Cristiano Ronaldo was indeed the best football player I've ever coached. I've had the fortune of coaching some of the very best players in the game, including defenders and goalkeepers. It's a long list of incredible players. But it's true, Ronaldo keeps surprising me positively, as he keeps scoring goals in every single match", said the Italian manager.

Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid is a UEFA Champions League fixture against Liverpool, on October 18 (Saturday). You can watch Liverpool vs Real Madrid, Barça vs Ajax, CSKA vs Manchester City, Chelsea vs Maribor, and AS Roma vs Bayern Munich, all matches provided from our soccer live section.

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Liverpool, Chelsea and the teams Ronaldo has struggled to score against

ANALYSIS: The Ballon d'Or winner boasts an incredible club scoring record, particularly at Real Madrid, but he finds some opponents tougher than others

BET=LiverpoolLIV£45DRAW£39.5Real Madrid CFRMA£17.5BetVernons By Miles Chambers

Cristiano Ronaldo is in the form of his life for Real Madrid. With 19 goals in 12 games in all competitions this season, the 29-year-old is virtually unstoppable right now.

And, having hit an incredible 271 goals in 258 appearances since signing for Madrid from Manchester United in 2009, and a total of 394 club goals in 581 career games, it is fair to say that Ronaldo is not scared of any opponent.

However, there are some teams who have fared well against the current Ballon d'Or holder - and one of those is Wednesday's Champions League opponents, Liverpool.

In nine games against the Reds - all of which came during his six seasons at Manchester United - Ronaldo scored just two goals. He has never registered at Anfield, the venue of this midweek's game.

Ronaldo's most difficult opponents have been Chelsea. He has scored just once in 15 games against the Blues, although that solitary strike arrived in United's 2008 Champions League final triumph in Moscow.

Other English clubs that can be proud of their record against the Portuguese include Blackburn (three in 12), Sunderland (one in five), Charlton (one in five) and Birmingham City (two in eight).

Away from England, Espanyol are the standout bogey side in Spain, with four goals in 10 games. The 29-year-old actually prefers playing a more illustrious Catalan opponent in Barcelona - against whom he has struck 13 times in 24 outings.

The only English team that he's faced more than once where he has a ratio of 1:1 or better is actually Manchester United, having scored twice against them in the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2012-13.

Ronaldo did not score more than 11 goals per season in his first three years at Old Trafford and 'only' scored 117 times in 290 competitive matches under Sir Alex Ferguson, compared to his aforementioned 271 strikes in 258 games at Madrid.

It is worth remembering, too, that once upon a time Ronaldo was taunted by some for not performing in big games. Liverpool were United's fiercest rivals throughout his time in England and his small tally helps to explain how this reputation was forged.

The former Sporting player also failed to net in his first 26 Champions League games (excluding qualifiers) for United, whereas he is now on the verge of becoming the competition's all-time top goalscorer.

Clearly, a lot has changed since Ronaldo last played at Anfield in 2007, although Liverpool will be hoping that his hoodoo against them continues on Wednesday evening.

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