Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte waxed lyrical about Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the two sides going head-to-head at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.
Ronaldo, who will be aiming to fire Portugal to World Cup glory in Qatar next month, scored four goals against Spurs last season, including a hat-trick in the 3-2 win United recorded at Old Trafford in March. He was sensational that day, putting Conte's side to the sword.
This season, however, the 37-year-old has struggled to get into any sort of rhythm, starting just twice in the Premier League. He started Sunday's goalless draw with Newcastle United but was taken off with just under 20 minutes left to play and replaced by Marcus Rashford.
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United boss Erik ten Hag later confirmed that he took Ronaldo off to save him for the upcoming clashes with Tottenham and Chelsea, both of whom the former Juventus man scored against last season. And it is fair to say that Conte, who watched his side beat Everton 2-0 on Saturday, is more than wary of the threat the five-time Ballon d'Or winner will pose.
"Last season, he scored a hat-trick against us and fingers crossed [it won't happen again]," Conte told reporters. "We are talking about an amazing player, a top player.
"We are talking about a player that has continued to make the difference for the team that he is playing for. Cristiano, with [Lionel] Messi, they have made the story of football in the last ten, 15 years.
"I have great respect for Cristiano for his professionalism."
Ronaldo, who has netted a very impressive 14 goals in 20 career appearances against Spurs, has scored just twice in all competitions so far this season. He netted United's second goal in their 2-0 Europa League win over Sheriff Tiraspol last month and recently scored the winner in the 2-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park.
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