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Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Portugal, Al Nassr
Ryan Smart
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Portugal, Al Nassr
Cristiano Ronaldo has refused to swap shirts with players from one particular club for the majority of his professional football career.
The Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal legend turned professional in 2002 with Sporting Lisbon, before spells at United, Real, Juventus and then a second stint back at Old Trafford.
He now plays his club football with Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr, whilst being international football's record goalscorer with Portugal.
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At 40, Ronaldo shows no sign of letting go of his professional career just yet, even though his Al Nassr contract expires this summer.
Marca report that he has put contract talks over a two-year extension 'on pause' after the Saudi club failed to win a trophy this season, with a return to Europe potentially not off the table.
If he does come back to European football, he could come face-to-face once again with the team whose players he always refuses to swap shirts with.
Tribuna reported that, whilst he was playing in Italy with Juventus, he always refused to swap shirts with players from fellow Serie A club Roma.
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The reason why is said to date back to 2007, when Ronaldo and United took on Roma in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side went into the match with a 2-1 deficit from the first leg, but thrashed the Italian side 7-1 to progress to the last four.
Ronaldo - who scored twice from the right side of the midfield and terrorised the Roma defence - would tell the Daily Express in 2018: "When it was 6-0, they asked me to stop. An opponent begged me to stop dribbling. Others threatened to hurt me.
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"Roma? There is no player with whom I would exchange a shirt."
During his career, Ronaldo has faced Roma on 12 separate occasions, scoring 10 goals against them (via Transfermarkt) - so it appears the bad feeling might be mutual between the two parties.