Carlo Ancelotti praises Cristiano Ronaldo's "unique seriousness and professionalism" at Real Madrid

The Portuguese star led Los Blancos to the Champions League under the Italian coach.

Carlo Ancelotti has lauded Cristiano Ronaldo’s “unique seriousness and professionalism” when he was at Real Madrid. They both worked together to lead the club to the Champions League in the 2013-14 season against rivals Atlético Madrid in the final.

Ronaldo was at the peak of his career under the Italian manager. He would score a lot of goals for fun and singlehandedly decide the game in what seemed like almost every match.

During the 2013-14 season, he displayed one of his career-best performances in the Champions League when he scored 17 goals in the competition. That tally is the highest a player has scored in the tournament.

RSI, a Swiss radio station, was interviewing the Real Madrid manager in person. Carlo Ancelotti lavished Ronaldo, the all-time leading goalscorer for Los Blancos.

The manager praised not only his technical and physical prowess but also the cerebral qualities that have made CR7 an all-time great. Carlo Ancelotti worked with Ronaldo at Santiago Bernabeu from 2013 to 2015.

Under Ancelotti’s tutelage, the Portuguese superstar, who currently plays for Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, put up some of his best work at Real Madrid, scoring 112 goals and dishing out 47 assists in just 101 games. That’s an incredible 54 minutes for every goal.

Ancelotti said: “Ronaldo is a great talent physically and technically, it’s his nature… And he complemented these characteristics with unique seriousness and professionalism. I’ve never seen a player so attentive, prepared, concentrated, focused. He’s a model for others, certainly, in terms of preparation.”

Ancelotti’s second stint has been impressive as the Italian coach delivered two Champions League wins. But this season, he has been under criticism for the club’s poor performance. Tomorrow, they will hope to overturn a 3-0 goal disadvantage when they host Arsenal in the Champions League second-leg.

Meanwhile, at the age of 40, Ronaldo is still scoring goals for his current club, Al-Nassr, as he hopes to add more trophies this season.

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