"Opponent begged me to stop dribbling. Others threatened to hurt me" - When Cristiano Ronaldo revealed the opponents who were left frustrated by him
Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo is a goalscoring beast. He has always been one. Even at 39 years of age, he knows no stopping. Just look at his stats from last season - 50 goals in all competitions for Saudi Pro League's Al-Nassr.
Overall, his career stats currently stand at 895 goals for club and country across all competitions. It's the most that a player has ever bagged in official games. So, if there's one thing that will define his career, it's goals.
His determination to score them even struck fear in the hearts of opposition players, such as those of AS Roma, who allegedly begged him to stop during a Champions League quarter-final game back in 2007.
The Portuguese star revealed years ago that players of Giallorossi pleaded with him to exercise restraint on them when Manchester United crushed the Serie A outfit 7-1 at Old Trafford.
It was a historic result for Sir Alex Ferguson's side, who came out all guns blazing in the fixture to reverse a 2-1 first-leg defeat. Ronaldo was among the scorers that night too, bagging a sensational brace to down a hapless Roma.
Before his reunion with Roma in December 2018 in Juventus colors, Ronaldo made an emphatic revelation that they asked him to stop, with one player from their squad even 'begging' him.
Cristiano Ronaldo was quoted by Jack Otway in the Express saying (via Bleacher Report):
"When it was 6-0, they asked me to stop, an opponent begged me to stop dribbling. Others threatened to hurt me. Roma? There is no player with whom I would exchange a shirt."
As destiny would have it, United and Roma locked horns once more the following season at the same stage, and Ronaldo came back to haunt the Rome side, netting in their 2-0 win at Stadio Olimpico.
Throughout his career, Ronaldo faced Roma 12 times and scored 10 goals, including four in Serie A with Juventus.
Ronaldo was an unstoppable force in the Champions League
As if it wasn't known already, Cristiano Ronaldo was an unstoppable force in the Champions League throughout his career. He first starred for Manchester United, before improving his average with Real Madrid, and then continuing his exploits with Juventus.
Of all the international competitions that he played in, it was Europe's premier club tournament which seemed to get the best out of him, every time. No wonder he's the all-time top-scorer of the Champions League with 140 goals. His arch-rival Lionel Messi is a close second with 129.
Most of Europe's big clubs have fallen prey to him; from Bayern Munich to Barcelona, from Juventus to Atletico Madrid, no defense was ever strong enough to keep him at bay.