Featured Image Credit: Getty/RM4
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, AS Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Pro League, Ligue 1
John McDougall
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, AS Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Pro League, Ligue 1
Cristiano Ronaldo launched a rant against the French top flight by claiming the Saudi Pro League is of a better standard - but one of the Ligue 1 club's media teams issued a brilliant response to the attacker's claims.
Ronaldo now plies his trade in Saudi Arabia after joining Al Nassr towards the end of 2022 following the conclusion of his second spell at Manchester United.
The 39-year-old has 80 goals in 89 games for Al Nassr since his arrival in the Middle Eastern nation.
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Recently, Ronaldo was welcomed as a special guest at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai - a ceremony which celebrates achievements in football.
At the ceremony, Ronaldo took aim at the French top flight - Ligue 1 - which has been dominated by Paris Saint-Germain for more than a decade now.
The former United, Real Madrid and Juventus star made it clear that the Saudi Pro League is a better competition in his view than Ligue 1 and that there are no other meaningful sides in the French top flight apart from PSG, claiming the rest of the league is 'finished'.
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He said: "The French league? Of course [it is worse]. I don't say that because I play there [in Saudi Arabia]. They [people] should go there and play there, to see. To run in 38, 39, 40 degrees and sprint a few times, just to see how they're going to be. Don't believe in my words - go there and see.
"Only in France is PSG, the rest is finished.
"It's my opinion. In France it is only PSG, sorry. The other ones compete, okay. But PSG is the strongest - nobody competes with them.
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"They have better players, they are the club with more money. This is a fact, and I don't understand why people are so surprised."
It is hard to argue with Ronaldo's assertion that PSG is not the strongest club in France - the Parc des Princes side has won the French top flight in 10 of the last 12 seasons, though the club's inability to win the Champions League given their huge financial prowess and the stars they have been able to attract with that is a source of continued criticism.
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Lille claimed the Ligue 1 title in the 2020/21 season, while before that it was AS Monaco in the 2016/17 campaign which claimed the French top flight crown with a side that was littered with future stars including the likes of Kylian Mbappe, who subsequently moved to PSG and is now at Real Madrid.
And the media team at AS Monaco did not take kindly to Ronaldo's view that the all teams in France aside from PSG are 'finished'.
The eight-time French champions responded by posting on its X account with a GIF from the American version of The Office, showing Michael Scott with a bemused face and the word 'what?' being shown on screen.