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Topics: Angel Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo, Football, Real Madrid
Tom Jenkins
Topics: Angel Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo, Football, Real Madrid
Angel Di Maria has sensationally left out Cristiano Ronaldo in his all-time teammate XI, despite the pair sharing multiple successful seasons together at Real Madrid.
Di Maria joined Madrid in 2010, one year after Ronaldo signed for the club for a world record fee at the time. The Argentine stayed at the Spanish club for five years before leaving for Manchester United in 2014.
During the pair's time as teammates, they won La Liga once, two Copa del Rey and most significantly finally got their hands on 'La Decima' as they won the Champions League in 2014.
Despite all those cherished shared memories and five Ballon d'Or wins, Ronaldo didn't do enough to be considered one of Di Maria's all-time best teammates.
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The Benfica midfielder made his choices in an interview with MARCA, where he stressed he has the luxury of choosing from a huge pool of talent.
"I had the opportunity to play with so many and have that privilege that sometimes if they don't ask me a question like that I don't start thinking about who I played with and the truth is that it is crazy if I have to put myself together. I could easily put together two all-star teams," Di Maria said.
Di Maria's team reads as follows: Emi Martinez, Sergio Ramos, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcelo, Javier Mascherano, Rui Costa, Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe.
Di Maria also snubbed another of his Madrid teammates by selecting Emi Martinez over Iker Casillas.
This decision came after the Aston Villa custodian's heroic performances at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where Argentina emerged as the champions.
Whilst it's hard to dispute the attackers the Argentine selected aren't world-class in their own right, it might be hard to find a football fan who wouldn't replace at least one with Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, Di Maria is perfectly entitled to his opinion and it's not like Ronaldo is the type of guy to take offence at things like this... Right?