Cristiano Ronaldo told Romelu Lukaku about how difficult Serie A is after the Belgian striker made a £74 million switch to Inter Milan.
Lukaku and Ronaldo are now going head-to-head in the scoring charts in the Italian top flight but the former Manchester United man received a warning about the league's toughness.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Lukaku said: "He told me this is the hardest defensive league in the world.
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"He said he'd scored goals everywhere, but this was the toughest place to do it. And if Cristiano Ronaldo thinks it's difficult, then it must be really difficult.
"It's harder than England. The football is more intense there, but here everything is pattern of play."
While Serie A has a reputation for being a tough place to score goals, Lukaku has not found them hard to come by.
The 26-year old has notched 12 goals in 17 games - two more than Ronaldo has managed - and boasts the third-highest goals per game ratio in Serie A history.
Lukaku has proved to be more than a goalscorer, however, and demonstrated his selflessness at the weekend in the 4-0 win over Genoa.
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The former Chelsea and Everton forward scored a brace in the game but his most impressive contribution was handing over a penalty to 17-year old striker Sebastiano Esposito on his debut.
The youngster made no mistake from the spot and went absolutely mental by celebrating with his mother after becoming Inter's second-youngest ever scorer.
Topics: Football News, Football, Romelu Lukaku, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Inter Milan
