“This was something I hated about me” - Berbatov on difference between Cristiano Ronaldo and him in Manchester United training
Former Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov recently opened up on a difference between him and Cristiano Ronaldo during their time at the Manchester club. He lauded the Portuguese icon’s determination and work ethic in training.
In an interview with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic on the former’s YouTube podcast channel RIO PRESENTS, the former Bulgaria international spoke about Ronaldo’s self-belief and determination. He said (27:18):
“Ronaldo is the perfect balance of someone believing in him so much and having the talent and working hard to make it all work like a complete package. Some players don’t have enough self-belief and that can sometimes stop their progress towards becoming really good. But with him, he was really believing he can be one of the best ever and he had the talent and work ethic to prove it."
Berbatov also revealed that the Al-Nassr star was always present in training, unlike himself who would always procrastinate to train.
“Honestly, I don’t remember him missing even one training session. You can see his work ethic there. Sometimes I’m watching [him] and I’m like, ‘I want to try this’. Then I go like, ‘I’ll do it the next day’. This was something I hated about me. I was fighting with myself on stuff like this. Maybe if I pushed a bit more, it was going to give me more,” he added.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Berbatov played together at Manchester United during the 2008-09 campaign before the Portuguese left to join Real Madrid the following season.
Summary of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United career
Cristiano Ronaldo had two spells with the Red Devils. He first joined the Manchester club in 2003 as an 18-year-old, becoming the first Portuguese player to sign for the club.
Under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson, he developed into one of the best players in the world. Ronaldo won three league titles, the UEFA Champions League and most notably the 2008 Ballon d’Or before signing for Real Madrid in 2009.
In 2021, the Portuguese star returned to Old Trafford for a second spell. Although he failed to win any trophies with the club this time around, Ronaldo came up clutch for Manchester United on several occasions.
A fallout with Erik ten Hag and the club’s management led to his controversial exit in 2022 and he joined Al-Nassr. Overall, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 145 goals and created 64 assists in 346 games for Manchester United.