Ronaldo downplays treble expectations

Former Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be unveiled as a Real Madrid player on Monday, has insisted that fans should not expect a repeat of Barcelona’s unprecedented treble.

Madrid based giants Real, were left in the lurch after Catalonia giants Barcelona made a clean sweep by winning the Primera Division, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles.

Following last terms debacle, coupled with the arrival of new president Florentino Perez, who has been successful in bringing Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol to the Santiago Bernabéu, things might never remain the same.

But the World player of the year does not believe that Madrid fans should expect too much too soon, despite the influx of talent.

“We are going to take it step by step,” he told Spanish daily Marca.

“The priority is the league. The Champions League is very nice, but it also depends on luck and the ties that you get.”

“It’s going to be a difficult mission to get the double, although I think we are going to do well in both.”

“We know that we must work very seriously to achieve our objectives and I think that we are going to do very well.”

The 24-year-old, who spent six hugely successful years in England with Manchester United before his world-record £80million switch to Madrid this summer, added: “My hope is to win at Real Madrid everything that I won during my time at Manchester United. With the structure Real Madrid have, this is possible.

“The new players that have arrived must fit in well with those already here so that all together we can win many things at Madrid and make the club a little greater still.”

Ronaldo’s presentation this evening follows that of Kaka, who was introduced to the fans last week.

And with two of the best players in the world moving to Madrid, Ronaldo believes the Primera Division now has the edge on the Premier League he has left behind.

“The Premier League is a very good competition, but I think that the Spanish league is going to have a little more quality because of the players that are arriving,” he said.

“Both leagues are going to be very good, but I think that with Florentino Perez’s signings the Spanish league is superior to the English.”

“It’s going to be a magnificent competition in Spain this year. All the players have a lot of quality and the referees protect the players more.”