Former Barcelona fullback Dani Alves has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo is the toughest opposition player he has come up against in his long playing career.

The Brazilian has been playing professionally for over two decades but, when asked about who he found the most difficult opponent during that time, he replied:

“Cristiano Ronaldo. This ******* doesn’t let you breathe for a second. I didn’t do too badly, but it’s difficult. He’s a scoring machine.”

Alves faced Ronaldo during his peak years at Real Madrid so it is not a surprise that the Portuguese legend was the man he picked.

In the early 2010s particularly, Ronaldo was averaging a staggering 50 to 60 goals a season, and he was pretty much unstoppable in that period.

Now, at 37 years of age, he is certainly not the player he once was, although he is still able to bang in the goals, as we saw when he got on the scoresheet against Sheriff in United’s win midweek.

In terms of Alves, he is also still playing at 39. He left Barcelona for the second time this summer to make the switch to Mexican side UNAM.