The former Real Madrid president has tipped the Portuguese star to give the Barcelona defence a torrid time in Saturday’s Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu
Cristiano Ronaldo has surpassed all expectations at Real Madrid, according to Ramon Calderon – the man who brought him to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2009.
Ronaldo joined Madrid for a then world record fee of €94million during Calderon’s time as president and has firmly established himself as one of the top two players on the planet, alongside Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
The pair clash on Saturday in the season’s first Clasico and Calderon expects Ronaldo to give Barca’s defence a torrid time.
“I can’t think of any other player in my life like Ronaldo,” he told talkSPORT. “When I signed him in 2009 we knew he was one of the best. He’s one of those players that has loads of talent, no doubt about it I feel sorry for the defenders who face him, they must think he’s going to eat them!
“I see Ronaldo scoring at least one goal. He’s brilliant, he’s going beyond even the biggest expectations.”
Madrid go into the game in third place, four points behind a Barcelona side who have scored 22 goals this season without conceding.
Calderon added: “Real Madrid are four points behind but there is a lot of time ahead of us in the season. It’s much better for us to win, then we’d be just one point behind Barca, but there are still another 29 games to go.
“Madrid are quite capable of beating Barca. It’s true that Barca have yet to concede in La Liga but it’s going to be a very interesting match.”
Another sub-plot to Saturday’s game is the potential return of Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, who has yet to play for Barcelona due to a four-month ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup.
“I don’t know what will happen with Suarez,” said Calderon. “It seems like he will be used as a substitute for the last 30 minutes. They have so many good players of course – like Neymar and Messi. I think we are going to see a match with the best two clubs of modern times.”