Sunday, June 28, 2009

Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a six-year deal with Real Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Real Madrid from Manchester United has been finalised


cristiano ronaldo to madrid, madrid cr7, cr7 real madrid, cr7 goThe Spanish club confirmed, with the Portuguese set to officially join the Spanish giants on 1 July. The £80m fee breaks the previous world-record of £56m, set earlier this summer, which Real Madrid paid for Milan's Brazilian forward Kaka.

United had accepted an offer from Real for Ronaldo on 11 June, after the player made it clear that he wished to leave Old Trafford. However, the deal could not be finalised until Ronaldo returned from holidaying in the United States, and now the Portugal winger has put pen to paper on a six-year deal.

"Real Madrid and Manchester United have signed a final agreement for the transfer of the rights of Cristiano Ronaldo from 1 July," a statement on Real's website said.
Ronaldo, who joined United in 2003 for £12.2m, is set to earn a reported €13m (£11m) a year in Spain, making him the highest paid footballer in the world. He will be presented at the Santiago Bernabeu on 6 July.


The acquisition of Ronaldo, 24, is just part of a sensational summer in the transfer market for Real, with the club having already added Kaka for £56m and Valencia's Raul Albiol for £12m. Despite an outlay of £148m, however, the spree looks set to continue, with Real linked to Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery, Valencia's David Villa and Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

source@http://www.guardian.co.uk

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Video Juliano Belletti's sister is new Cristiano Ronaldo Girlfriend

Luana Belletti the NEW QUEEN for CRISTIANO RONALDO



Cristiano Ronaldo has accordingly to reports, found new girl. Not just with anyone, but with Chelsea defender Juliano Belletti's sister, Luana.Internet site people.co.uk says Ronaldo and Luana have been secretly dating for two months.Not only that, but the couple were apparently set up by Belletti himself.

"Luana had mentioned Cristiano a couple of times to her brother so he set it all up," an unknown source told the Web site.

The news of the coupling beaks almost a month after Barcelona tied Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final to advance to the final against Manchester United — which Barcelona won 2-0.

The couple have no problems with communication, since Brazilians speak Portuguese.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Zoran Revealed Cristiano Ronaldo Secret

Old Friend Always Say the Truth


Zoran Tosic has revealed that he and his Manchester United team-mates knew before they contested the Champions League final with Barcelona at the end of last month that Cristiano Ronaldo had resolved to leave the club.

Tosic, who joined United from Partizan Belgrade in January, did not travel to Rome with the squad for the ill-fated showdown against the Spaniards. The young winger had featured as a late substitute in United's final Premier League match at Hull City three days previously and he had headed straight home to Serbia to prepare for the European Under-21 Championship in Sweden with his country's team.

But by then he had spoken to Ronaldo and got the clear impression that the Portuguese World Player of the Year had called time on his glittering six-year spell at Old Trafford. Ronaldo has since agreed an £80m transfer to Real Madrid.

"I spoke with him," said Tosic. "He told us that it's enough to be here. He'd won all the awards in England and he wanted to try something else. I think he's going to be again the best player in the world [at Real]. This season was not the best because last season he scored 42 goals, this time 25, and they all said it's the worst season. He scored 25 goals and it's not enough! I think that in Madrid he will be again the best."

Tosic is convinced that Sir Alex Ferguson will sign a big-money replacement for Ronaldo but his looming departure has invited the club's existing wingers to press their starting claims. Nani has already said he can be the man to fill the void while Park Ji-sung has similar ambition.

"My first six months at the club were for me to prepare, to get stronger," said Tosic, "and in the next six months it's important to try and break into the team and prove that I'm a United player. To be honest, I think that probably Cristiano was the best player in the team and so someone will come in to take his place.

"These games at the Under-21 championship are very important for me and then, when we go on pre-season tour, I hope I'm going to get a chance. I played three games [as a substitute] this past season but I was adapting. Next season, if I get a chance, I am ready."

Tosic believes he is comfortable on either flank although his left foot is stronger and the 22-year-old says "the people from Manchester think I can play better on the left side". The club's official website muses: "It could be Tosic who is charged with filling the Welshman's boots when [Ryan] Giggs eventually retires."

Giggs is among those at the club who have done most to help Tosic settle. Paul Scholes is another while Tosic's international team-mate Nemanja Vidic is a friend and neighbour. "Nemanja is maybe five minutes away," said Tosic. "I knew him before from playing in the senior Serbia team and we spend a lot of time together. His wife and my girlfriend are together all the time. Giggsy and Scholesy are also fantastic, they help me a lot. They want to use their experience to help all of us."

Tosic is a tricky if diminutive player who has struggled with the physical aspect of the English game. He admits at times the reserve team league resembled a school of hard knocks. "In a few games for the reserves the players kick me andI was wondering, 'What is going on? Iam going home, I cannot play here.'Then I got through that and it's normal for me."

Tosic speaks English fluently, a legacy of language lessons at school, although he jokes that he struggles to understand Ferguson. His main points of contact at United thus far, as he lives a boyhood dream, are the coaches Mick Phelan and Rene Meulensteen.

"I was a United fan as a kid since we won the 1999 European Cup," he said. "From that moment I was a United fan. I remember when I was just starting to train, I saw a picture of the Serbia national team up in the changing room and I said to the coach, 'I am going to stand there one day and I am going to be a Manchester United player. Those are my two wishes.'"
by David Hytner

Sunday, June 21, 2009

NO RIbery .. WHY?

Manchester United "reject" Franck Ribery



Franck Ribery, Scarface, Ferarybery, bilal
Manchester United have made a long-term decision not to sign any players aged 26 or above for large transfer fees because of new financial stipulations that have been put in place at Old Trafford to shape the club's recruitment policy. Dimitar Berbatov, who was 27 when he signed from Tottenham Hotspur last September, has been described as the "last of his kind" in a move that has immediate implications for their attempts to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

The restrictions automatically mean that Sir Alex Ferguson's admiration for Franck Ribéry will not manifest itself in a concerted attempt to sign the France international. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern Munich's chairman, said yesterday that United, Chelsea and Barcelona had all lodged bids but the Premier League champions say that is not true.

Instead, the policy from now onwards is that the club will have a strict age-before-ability approach in which they will sign players in big-money deals only if they will retain a significant market value some years after signing a five- or six-year contract.

Karim Benzema, the Lyon striker, would fit into their strategy, being 21, but Ribéry is considered too old even though he turned 26 only two months ago and is approaching what are generally considered the best years of a footballer's career. United's thinking is that Ribéry would cost close to £60m and have no significant resale value, leaving Chelsea, who have tabled a formal bid believed to be around £40m, hopeful of signing the France international, particularly as Real Madrid's interest appears to have cooled.

The same policy applies to David Villa, the outstanding Valencia striker who is on the market at the age of 27 for a fee of around £45m, as well as the man who scored the first goal against United in the Champions League final, Barcelona's 28-year-old forward Samuel Eto'o. Both are ruled out unless there is a rethink at Old Trafford.

United are aware that the policy may not go down well with those supporters who are expecting high-profile replacements to fill the void left by Ronaldo's impending world-record transfer to Real Madrid. However, the club insists it makes sound business sense not to bring in a player for £30m or more who cannot be sold for another high valuation some years after signing his contract.

This explains why United did not make any effort to sign Kaka, the Brazil international and former world footballer of the year, when he became available for £59m from Milan, even though Ferguson has now admitted he knew for virtually all of last season that Ronaldo would be leaving this summer. Kaka was 27 in April and that does not fit into United's strategy of not buying expensive players whose values will then plummet.

Berbatov was considered an exception to the rule when he signed for £30.75m but Ferguson is now working under the knowledge that his chief executive, David Gill, and the club's American owners, the Glazer family, expect him to pursue younger players who could conceivably make the club a profit.

Ronaldo was 18 when he signed from Sporting Lisbon for £12.2m six years ago and United, despite being renowned for wanting to keep their better players, are placing a heavy emphasis on bringing in people who could feasibly make them money. The policy has been gradually evolving over recent years, with Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Anderson and Nani all 25 and below when they were signed.

United are now targeting Antonio Valencia, Wigan Athletic's 23-year-old Ecuador international, to take over from Ronaldo on the right side of their attack but face competition for the 23-year-old from Madrid and an unnamed club, believed to be Bayern Munich. "It all rests on where the lad wants to go to: Man United, Real Madrid or the other European club," said Wigan's chairman, Dave Whelan. "We can't force him where to go. We will have a meeting with United and Real Madrid in the next three or four days, see what offers are on the table and then present them to the lad and he will decide where he wants to go or if he wants to go. We would never stop a player from going to a top club. The lad comes back from holiday this weekend and I expect it will be another 10 to 14 days before a deal is done.

"Real Madrid have been in contact once a week for the last six weeks. I thought them agreeing a deal with Ronaldo would fulfil their requirements but it hasn't done, as they've been in touch again since then. There have been fees spoken about but have we had a bid put in black and white? No." Whelan added that he would not increase the asking price for Valencia in light of Ronaldo's £80m sale.

Ferguson is also still hoping to persuade Carlos Tevez to sign a permanent deal with the club, despite the Argentinian saying publicly and privately that he has no plans to return to Old Trafford when he becomes a free agent on 30 June. Tevez, also a target for Manchester City, Chelsea – who do not believe they will land him – and Liverpool, is 25 and United's initial reluctance to pay the £25.5m fee wanted by the investors who own his economic rights partly derived from a concern about what he might be worth to them towards the end of a five-year contract. Gill has already publicly stated that he thinks Tevez's valuation is a "bit toppy.

by Daniel Taylor

Friday, June 19, 2009

CR7 Sell His Porsche | Wanna BUY?

Cristiano Ronaldo’s formerly owned Porsche 911 for sale



by Adrian Hearn


A Porsche 911 convertible previously owned by Cristiano Ronaldo is for sale on Auto Trader.

The soon-to-be Real Madrid player was the first owner of the Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Tiptronic S which he bought in 2007.

JUST IN: No charges for Ronaldo over Ferrari crash

It’s just one of a range of stunning cars which have been owned by the 24-year-old whose daily runaround is a 202mph Bentley Continental GT Speed.

Under the hood of the Porsche is a 3.8-litre engine which develops 355bhp and 295lb/ft of pulling power.



This enables the convertible to accelerate from 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds before reaching a top speed of 177mph.

The car has upgraded leather seats, sat-nav, 911 Turbo alloy wheels and a tracker.

The Porsche is the first of what many will expect to be a mass clearout by the Portuguese footballer with a selection of luxury cars and his Cheshire mansion likely to come up for grabs.
porsche, sell, cristiano ronaldo, sell cars
Ronaldo hit the headlines last week when Man United accepted a world record £80 million bid from Real Madrid.

To celebrate the historic move, he is currently sunning himself in the USA where he was snapped canoodling with socialite Paris Hilton and splashing the cash in Las Vegas.

While he is the only registered owner of the car, Ronaldo doesn’t currently possess the Porsche with the supercar being sold by a dealer with the footballer’s name signed on the log book.

Now you can buy the 911, which has just 16,000 miles on the clock and recently underwent a service at Stratstones for £69,995.

For more information call Richard on 07754 811971

View the advert

Find out how to sell your car and get the most out of your advert.
The Portuguese star will be paying a fair sum for his insurance - you won't do with these new cars and these used mode

source http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/CARS/news/world_exclusive_ronaldo_porsche_911_for_sale.html

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

What is this? CELEBRATION to madrid with CELEBRITY

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo turned down Paris Hilton after she made a play for him at a Hollywood nightclub, MailOnline has learned.



The Manchester United striker - currently in LA on an undisclosed business trip - arrived at trendy hotspot Villa in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

A source said: 'Paris was all over him. The moment he arrived, she went over to his private table.

'At one point, she pushed her chest together and made a point of trying to snuggle up against him.
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New admirer: Seductress Paris Hilton worked her charms on an unimpressed Ronaldo last night in Hollywood

 
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'But Ronaldo clearly wasn't interested in Paris. He turned his back on her.'

According to reports, the 23-year-old Portugese star is a single man after splitting from model Nereida Gallardo, 25.

And heiress Paris, clad in a peach-coloured dress, was clearly impressed by his charms.

The onlooker added: 'Every girl in the club was checking him out but Paris couldn't take her eyes off him.

'You could tell he enjoyed the attention but he didn't really want anything to do with any of the girls.
 

Single and ready to mingle: The footballer let his hair down at trendy Hollywood club Villa

'He just sipped vodka soda in the corner of the club with his friends.'

Flanked by four or five male friends, Ronaldo arrived hobbled in on crutches just after 11.30pm.

Earlier, he had enjoyed a business dinner with around nine associates at Hollywood steak restaurant STK.

A fellow diner said: 'He is obviously in LA on business.

'He looked very serious over dinner and spent the entire time talking to the men in suits.'

The onlooker added that Ronaldo is being accompanied by a glamorous female assistant, who is apparently helping him recuperate from injury.

By Mark Coleman

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Real Madrid crank up Ronaldo heat as Perez steps up £75m bid for Manchester United sta


Real Madrid have stepped up their efforts to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Spain ahead of what is expected to be an official bid of £75million in the coming weeks.


As Sportsmail first reported in April, Madrid have been confident for months that they had a tacit agreement in place with Manchester United to buy Ronaldo this summer.

While United have always publicly denied this, it is now understood that new Real president Florentino Perez wants to test the water with a mammoth bid once transfer business for players like Valencia's David Villa is out of the way.


On his way? Real Madrid are set to make a mega-offer to United for Ronaldo

Madrid's sporting director Jorge Valdano hinted at his club's interest in Ronaldo, saying: 'I can only talk about players who are on their way here, not about those we are in negotiations over.


More...
Real send doctor to check on Ronaldo in US as Madrid chief Perez caves in on £75m fee
PICTURE SPECIAL: Injured Cristiano Ronaldo shuns rest and recovery for LA party scene as United star faces fight for pre-season fitness
Real Madrid chief promises Ronaldo's transfer from United after landing £56m Kaka
MANCHESTER UNITED FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB

'But he is a great professional, he dedicates a very great deal of time to his work. He is a great footballer and a very good professional.'

Ronaldo is currently in Los Angeles recovering from a lower abdomen problem that may need minor surgery. He has been told by his advisers not to say anything that may inflame what is already a delicate situation.

It is increasingly possible, though, that Ronaldo may have to formally ask to leave Old Trafford if he wishes to speed up the process.


LA confidential: Ronaldo relaxes in Hollywood but his Manchester United future remains uncertain

As is often the case with the Spanish club, Real have begun to drip-feed stories, information and - in many cases - half-truths to the media in recent days as they look to place increasing pressure on United to give in to something that has been viewed as inevitable at the Bernabeu since before Christmas.

Perez has seemingly done his best to be publicly respectful towards United since he was confirmed as Real's president last week, perhaps wary of how the behaviour of his predecessor Ramon Calderon only encouraged United not to play ball when the Spanish club tried to sign Ronaldo a year ago.

But a flurry of stories in the Spanish press on Wednesday - some ludicrous - suggested that Real were beginning to revert to type.

United refused to comment

source http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1192188/Real-Madrid-crank-75m-Cristiano-Ronaldo-heat.html

Monday, June 8, 2009

CRISTIANO RONALDO THE PLAYER IN THE UNIVERSE| MU SAID

Manchester United Official Website


superlatives, except to say that having developed and matured from an inexperienced, young winger when he left Sporting Lisbon in 2003, he's now the best footballer on the planet.

The story goes that Sir Alex was persuaded to buy Ronaldo - largely unknown when he signed as an 18-year-old for £12.24m in 2003 - by his players on the plane home from a pre-season friendly against Sporting. In truth, the boss had long been aware of his ability. The urgency stemmed from other clubs’ increasing interest. This was a target Sir Alex simply could not miss out on.


Ronaldo wasted little time in showing off his sublime skills with a stunning 30-minute debut against Bolton at OT in August 2003. There was a buzz of excitement as soon as he stepped off the bench and, after 39 appearances and eight goals that season – including the opener in the 3-0 FA Cup final win over Millwall – he was named Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year.

His second term didn’t quite live up to his first, but late season form saw him end 2004/05 with nine goals in 50 appearances. In 2005/06 Ronny again reserved his best form for the latter stages, but the inconsistencies of a developing young player were being

source http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?bioid=91960&pagegid=%7BFE60904B-C2A8-4E60-9B05-700DBBC29BBC%7D§ion=playerProfile

Friday, June 5, 2009

Florentino Pérez Will Prove His Promise

Hello Cristiano Ronaldo| Welcome to Madrid



The new Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, has made clear his intention to sign Cristiano Ronaldo by claiming he will 'work to bring' the player to the Bernabéu.

Having all but secured the £56.2m signature of Kaka from Milan – the Brazilian is expected to complete a move to Madrid on Monday – Pérez has now turned his sights to Ronaldo.

"What I want is for many of the best players in the world to play with us, Cristiano would be one of them," he said. "I'm going to work so that Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo can be with Real Madrid.

"It would be very good if great players were at Real Madrid this season. Cristiano would be one of them."

Pérez, who returned to Real on Monday, is believed to be studying a pre-contract agreement made between the club and Ronaldo last season and which could lead to the 24-year-old joining the Spanish giants for close to £75m, a fee the president is thought to be concerned about.

Officially at least, he claims to know nothing about the agreement. "I've been here for two days and neither [previous president Vicente] Boluda or anyone else told me anything about this," he said

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

TIME to Go | Good Bye MU

Let Cristiano Ronaldo Leave


The questions at the Portugal camp ahead of Saturday’s game against Albania will inevitably concern the future of the Manchester United player. We remember the pantomime of a year ago when daily bulletins demonstrated with increasing clarity Ronaldo’s desire to join Real Madrid. Manchester convulsed.


Five days into the post-Champions League wake the lessons of the defeat to Barcelona make United’s position regarding Ronaldo less not more acute. Barca reminded Sir Alex Ferguson and the rest of the world that there is another way to play the game that relies on qualities even greater than those possessed by the Portuguese.

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The beauty in the Catalan template is not so much the individual merit of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, deep though that is, but the regard they have for each other which manifests itself in a work-rate and sense of togetherness United couldn’t match.

Many years ago the holy trinity that was Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten performed comparable miracles for Holland and AC Milan. After lifting the 1988 European Championship trophy Gullit smiled when he was asked how Holland made the game look so easy. It might look that way, he said, but looking good is bloody hard work.

We are still waiting for Ronaldo to track back in a red shirt. Messi and Co would run twice around the Nou Camp to recover possession. Iniesta is probably still at it now. Loss of the ball is theft. There is no pouting impatience intended to rebuke lesser team-mates. It is all hands to the pumps, not hips.

This is the difference between Ronaldo and the three amigos. As outrageously gifted as Ronaldo is you sense that this brilliance is delivered in his own interests first. Fantastic when it comes off, but not so good when things do not go his way.

Barcelona enchant as well as enthral. The joy they take from the game is obvious, conveyed in passages of triangular exuberance. The experience is genuinely uplifting. You can’t but smile as you watch them weave their exquisite patchwork. Even opposing supporters are disarmed. The fans of Manchester United, devout in their attachment, could not bring themselves to complain. Barcelona transcended allegiance in Rome. They entered all our hearts.

This paean to Catalonia does not seek to demonise Ronaldo but to recognise how the consequences of the Barcelona experience for Manchester United might have changed the dynamic at Old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney walked out of the Olympic Stadium hailing Iniesta as the best player in the world. He is not. But in the context of a team ethic it appears that way. How much better might Rooney appear were Ronaldo to share in the leg work the Englishman puts in, to embrace his team in the reciprocal way Barcelona’s stellar men do. Rooney has arguably more clubs in his bag than Iniesta, but in Rome he was left flailing away in a bunker of despair.

Sir Alex Ferguson was another deeply moved by the beating. Ferguson is a master of renewal. He has excused Ronaldo in the past because on balance that was the right decision for his team.

Equally Ferguson has never run from a difficult decision. He noted how the sense of unity, of camaraderie, appeared to give Barcelona an extra man. This was only one game, of course, and he can point to countless occasions when Ronaldo has made the difference.

But there is more to it than that. A football club is not only the 11 that takes the field. No. It is every member of the squad, anyone who wears the tie, in whatever capacity. Every man jack of them represents, indeed makes up, the thing that is the club; that gives it its identity.

So when Messi pledges his career to Barcelona he is committing himself not only to the first XI but to an institution, a brand, an ideal. No one asks Messi where he will be playing his football next season. He and Barcelona are indivisible. No one asks Rooney. They don’t have to. The question recurs in the Ronaldo tale because the player considers that his own interests are not necessarily those of the club. He could lay all speculation to rest by saying unconditionally, as Fernando Torres has at Liverpool, that he is at the club for which he wants to play.

After Rome it might be that Ferguson decides the time has come to leave Ronaldo to his Real Madrid dream and get on with building a team. Barcelona demonstrated the beauty of that thinking

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/cristianoronaldo/5417707/Let-Cristiano-Ronaldo-leave-Manchesster-United.html

Monday, June 1, 2009

Messi vs Ronaldo ? What Sir Alex Said about it

These are the goals which beated MU




In football there have always been players who crackle the imagination with just the mention of their name.

The surname is all that it takes to stir the blood. Pele, Puskas, Maradona, Eusebio, Cruyff, Best, Moore. Nothing else needed.

You know that associated with them was achievement and great occasions.

Tonight here in Rome at the Olympic Stadium two modern-day gladiators can light up the Champions League final.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will use this wonderful final between Manchester United and Barcelona to roll back the memories of all yesterday’s heroes.

Ronaldo, the World Footballer of the Year against Messi, the man who wants his crown.

Ronaldo – explosive pace, the quickest feet in the game, strong in the air and with the ability to score towering free-kicks. The most gifted attacking player in football.

Messi – the darting, smaller man, with the ability to change a game with a swerve of his body. His finishing is clinical, a little master.

This is what the Champions League final is about. Greatness.

Great is the most over-used word in football and yet we can hang it on these two superstars.

Tonight is about the two best players on this planet trying to outfox each other.

The pin-ups of today’s game. Two men who have every sponsor and advertising executive falling over themselves.

Ronaldo, 24, said: “When you are a boy, you dream of matches like this. You watch television and think, ‘I want that to be me’ and then when you arrive you feel just as excited.

“Last season I scored in the final and it was wonderful to win it.

“Now we must do it again and every player must treat this as the most important match of his life.

“I love to entertain and know that I have a special talent.

“I am the best player in the world and part of that honour is living with the pressure of proving it.”

Messi, 21 and younger than Ronaldo, said: “This is the most important game of my life. Everyone knows this is special.

“The whole world will be watching and it is games like this that makes everything worth while. I would love it to be a great final for football and this is not about two players, it is about two teams.

“I have always done well against English sides (although never scored against one) and my mind is racing at the prospect of doing well on such a stage.”

A comparison between the players comes from Gerard Pique, the Barcelona centre-half who spent last season at United.

“Ronaldo is the more complete player,” he said.

“He’s good in the air, has a great shot and is quick and strong.

“Messi is more decisive when he’s dribbling. He is also quick and creates chances on his own.

“It is hard to get the ball off them especially when they are doing their tricks.

“Messi keeps the ball close to him, waiting for the opening. Ronaldo runs and runs at you.

“Messi changes direction while Ronaldo hunts you down. Messi comes deeper for the ball and is more deceptive.”

The Argentinian has scored nine more goals this season than Ronaldo. Both players are matchwinners, both can conjure up magic from nothing.

Messi is valued at £130m in the transfer market – although has no intention of quitting the only club he has played for.

“Barcelona is my life,” he said. “It broke my heart to miss the 2006 final against Arsenal and I want to win this one with them, for them, so much.”

Ronaldo has admitted he now wants to stay at Old Trafford after more links with a £100m move Real Madrid. United without Ronaldo and Barcelona without Messi is unthinkable.

Ronaldo spends more on his clothes and cares about his hairstyle and how he looks. Messi has a slightly dishevelled look and features of a young Dustin Hoffman.

Messi will be marked by United’s Patrice Evra, who did such a good job on him last season, while Barcelona don’t have a first-choice left-back to look after Ronaldo after Eric Abidal was wrongly sent off against Chelsea in the semi final.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: “I’ll be surprised if Sylvinho (the former Arsenal player) doesn’t mark Ronaldo.

“Ronaldo is stronger than Messi physically although Messi has started to grow in strength in his upper body.

“They are both fantastic players who can create and score goals. When great players get to this level you are only talking about little details that separate them.

“Last year we depended on the speed of Evra to look after Messi and we will depend on him again. Evra is quick and a fantastic player.

“There will be times when there is nothing you can do when Messi attacks players and we must give these great players credit. You need luck when you plan against them.

“Let’s hope Messi falls over the ball when he is in a good position!

“We can plan against a lot of things and yet it is difficult to prevent everything happening.

“It is on the night that matters and you hope the man against you has an off day.”

Ronaldo and Messi are the first names that roll off the tongue when you start talking about tonight’s final. You don’t need to say anything else.

Tonight’s the night when every great player there has been in the history of the sport can nod their head with approval.

The names say it all. Nothing else needed.
By Brian Woolnough