"Now that I'm not at Barça I can say it: I love Ronaldo"

If there's one thing Dani Alves is known for, it's that he doesn't mince his words. A few days ago, the Pumas player gave his opinion on Vinicius' dances and gave his opinion on the real problem. "Europe is full of rascists".

Now, the Brazilian has been on the Efrian Velarde podcast and has made some more interesting comments. Asked about Cristiano Ronaldo, Dani Alves was happy to be able to give an honest answer to the question.

"Now that I'm no longer a Barça player I can say it: I love Cristiano Ronaldo. It seemed like I couldn't speak and now I can", said the former 'Cule' footballer.

In this rivalry between Cristiano and Messi to be the best in the world, Alves felt that what he said about the Portuguese, formerly of Real Madrid, could be misunderstood. "I respect him a lot, he's one of the toughest opponents I've ever faced. He doesn't let you breathe for a second," he continued.

He revealed that he had a clash with Cristiano precisely because he was at Madrid and Alves was at Barcelona. "Because of the rivalry, I would go over to greet him and he wouldn't. There was something that never came out. In the dressing room, during the Ballon d'Or gala, we had a clash. I greeted everyone and he didn't greet me back because of what the Barça-Madrid match was generating".

Alves praised Cristiano and said he is an example for everyone: "How can I not respect a guy who has achieved everything through hard work, by putting his heart and soul into it? I identify with him. As a player, I'm closer to CR7 than to Messi because of work, not because of talent. Messi is a natural talent, he's in another world.