"When we decided to sell him, we won La Liga" - Fabio Capello makes bold claim on how Ronaldo Nazario 'affected' Real Madrid

Former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello has opined that Ronaldo Nazario "affected" the Los Blancos dressing room and that the atmosphere improved once the Brazilian was sold.

Capello took charge of the club for the second time in his career in the 2006-07 season. Real Madrid had a star-studded squad at the time and were famously called the Galacticos.

However, Capello has now claimed that selling Ronaldo helped the team flourish. He said (via Football Italia):

“We had the best player who, however, affected the group. Ronaldo, the Brazilian, not Cristiano. In fact, when we decided to sell him in the middle of the season, there was a change and we won La Liga.”

The Brazilian legend left Los Merengues in January 2007 and joined AC Milan. The 2002 FIFA World Cup winner scored 103 goals and provided 35 assists in 177 matches for Real Madrid.

Ronaldo Nazario's career after leaving Real Madrid

After leaving Real Madrid in 2007, R9 had a stint with AC Milan in the Serie A. He scored nine goals and provided five assists in 20 appearances for the Rossoneri.

However, he was arguably way past his prime at that point. The Brazilian joined Corinthians in 2009 and went on to score 24 goals in 42 appearances for the club before hanging up his boots in 2011.

Ronaldo was one of the most fearsome strikers in world football. However, persistent injuries denied fans the privilege of watching him in action more often.

He played for some of the biggest clubs in the world. Ronaldo featured for the two Milan giants, AC Milan and Inter Milan, as well as for the two biggest rivals in Spanish football, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The striker made 99 appearances for Brazil's senior team, scoring 62 goals. He netted twice in the 2002 FIFA World Cup final as Brazil defeated Germany 2-0.