Real Madrid vs Manchester City

Real Madrid v Manchester United: Cristiano Ronaldo owes so much to father figure Sir Alex Ferguson

It was a special relationship, but even Cristiano Ronaldo was not exempt from Sir Alex Ferguson’s ‘hairdryer’.

Still, according to those who shared a dressing room with Ronaldo atManchester United, there was only one occasion when the Portuguese was on the receiving end of Ferguson’s fury.

The irony of its timing was that it came when Ferguson knew that his team’s talisman had, barring the liquidation of Real Madrid’s assets, performed his last stepover for the club.

“It was after the Champions League final defeat against Barcelona in Rome,” recalls one of Rondalo`s Old Trafford team-mates. “The plan had been for the forwards to target Carles Puyol by interchanging their positions, but the manager felt that Cristiano had ignored the instructions and tried to win the game on his own.

“That was the only time Sir Alex was angry with him. He was the best player that most of us had played with and the manager generally made an exception of him.”

During his six years with United, there were other occasions when Ronaldo pushed the boundaries with Ferguson – walking off the pitch and substituting himself in a game against Sunderland, throwing his tracksuit top to the floor after being taken off against Manchester City, and the early issues with diving.