Cristiano Ronaldo has been dubbed a "b******" by former Barcelona star Dani Alves, who claims that the Portuguese veteran is the toughest opponent he has come across in his illustrious career.
Ronaldo was lured back to the Premier League for a second spell with Manchester United last summer following a brief stint at Juventus. But prior to his Serie A switch, Ronaldo enjoyed a trophy-laden decade in Spain with Real Madrid.
During his time at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo lifted the Champions League on four separate occasions, but he only tasted La Liga glory twice. That was partly down to the domestic dominance of Barcelona, who won the Spanish crown six times during Ronaldo's spell in Madrid.
Alves was one of the mainstays of the Barcelona side that enjoyed that sustained period of success, with the veteran widely considered to be one of the club's finest full-backs of all time. Alves was a regular for nine seasons across his two spells at the Nou Camp, meaning he's played regularly against some of the best players in the world.
But the 39-year-old, who has also won the Copa America twice with Brazil, had no hesitation in naming Ronaldo as his toughest opponent during a recent interview: "Cristiano Ronaldo. This b****** doesn't let you breathe for a second. I didn't do too badly, but it's difficult. He's a scoring machine."
In total, Ronaldo plundered a remarkable 450 goals in 438 games for Real Madrid before he was lured away in the summer of 2018 by the prospect of a new challenge with Juventus in Italy.
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Ronaldo and Alves' former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi are widely acknowledged as the two greatest players of the current era and were huge rivals during their time in Spain. And with both of them playing for the league's two biggest sides, the El Classico quickly became essential viewing across the globe.
Although Alves has conceded that Ronaldo was the toughest opponent he came up against during his career, he unsurprisingly leaned towards his former Barca teammate rather than the Manchester United star when he was asked who felt was the best player in the world. And he was even put to the ultimate test: choosing between Messi and his compatriot, Pele.
Alves added: "I choose Pele for one reason: he changed football. Messi changed a generation. All those people who are more than football, I'm going to choose them. And besides, I'm Brazilian.
"For me, Pele should not be part of this debate. If you ask me, who is the best player in history? I would say, Messi. Pele doesn't come into it."
