“I saw two Cristiano Ronaldos”, “His ego was a bit too much” - Ex-Real Madrid star Sami Khedira on playing with Portugal superstar
Former Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira has shared his take on his former Los Blancos and Juventus teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. They shared the dressing room at Madrid for five seasons and at Juve for two.
Khedira - who played his last in the 2020-21 season with Hertha Berlin before retiring - has seen Ronaldo from close quarters and won titles galore with the Portugal captain.
Opening up on his experience playing with Ronaldo, Khedira said in an exclusive on Legends Lounge:
“How good was he? You can see his numbers, you can see his titles with Manchester United, Real Madrid and even Juventus. But I saw two different Cristiano Ronaldos, one in Real Madrid when he was younger and his ego was a bit too much."
He continued:
“But when he came to Juventus, he came to the locker room and interacted with all the teammates, trying to help them as well. He’s an inspirational character. He’s always a competitive guy but also a really friendly, nice and humble guy, from my point of view.”
Khedira and Ronaldo shared the pitch together on 174 occasions in club football and recorded seven joint goal contributions, with the latter scoring six of them.
A look at what major titles Cristiano Ronaldo and Sami Khedira won at Real Madrid and Juventus
Cristiano Ronaldo is a bonafide Real Madrid legend, emerging as their all-time top scorer with 450 goals in 438 games across competitions during his nine years at the Santiago Bernabeu between 2009 and 2018.
As mentioned above, he shared the dressing room with Khedira at the Bernabeu for five seasons (2010-11 to 2014-15). Together, the duo helped Los Blancos win the 2011-12 La Liga title and their UEFA Champions League La Decima in 2013-14.
Later, at Juventus - where Ronaldo arrived in the summer of 2018 - the duo won consecutive Serie A titles. Khedira left the Bianconeri in February 2021, and Ronaldo would follow suit later that summer, returning to his old club Manchester United.
Now at Saudi Pro League giants Al-Nassr - whom he joined on a free transfer in December 2022 - Ronaldo is looking to make a record-extending sixth European Championship appearance for Portugal at Euro 2024.