Football London
Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are set for a reunion next season following Tuesday afternoon’s breaking news.
Serie A club AS Roma announced that Mourinho will become their new manager from the start of next season, just over two weeks after he was relieved of his duties by Tottenham.
Ronaldo, who is playing his football at Juventus, is now set to come head-to-head with his former boss in the Italian top-flight during the 2021/22 campaign.
The two global superstars have had somewhat of a frosty relationship in the past following their work together at Real Madrid.
Mourinho spent three seasons in the Spanish capital and in that time, he lifted a La Liga title and a Copa del Rey.
It saw him work with Ronaldo, his Portuguese countryman, but the pair did clash during their time at Los Blancos.
That’s according to former Spurs midfielder Luka Modric, who opened up on Mourinho and Ronaldo’s relationship in his autobiography last year.
Modric said: “I was surprised by Mourinho’s reaction. We were winning 2-0 in the Copa del Rey.
“Ronaldo did not chase the rivals on his throw-in and Jose was furious with Cristiano.
“The two fought for a long time on the field. After returning to the locker room at half-time, I saw Ronaldo desperate, on the verge of tears.
“He said, ‘I do my best and he continues to criticise me.’
“Mourinho came in and began to criticise the Portuguese for his responsibility during the game.
“They became so hot that only the intervention of the team-mates avoided a real fight between them.”
This isn’t the only time the pair have clashed. Back in 2016, Ronaldo inspired Portugal to win the European Championships.
However, the former Manchester United forward still received criticism from Mourinho, who claimed the attacker’s touchline antics during the final were not very helpful to his team-mates.
Ronaldo was taken off injured after just 25 minutes into the final against France, and could be seen on the touchline shouting instructions to his team-mates.
Mourinho said on Ronaldo losing ’emotional control’: “Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t help in any way by doing that in the final few minutes of the Euros final.
“There were 11 players on the pitch doing their job, and the person in charge of directing them was the coach.
“I saw it as an overload of emotion from someone who saw that the team was just minutes away from achieving an objective which everyone wanted.
“He lost a little emotional control — not that that’s a bad thing,” Mourinho continued. “But what my experience tells me is that it is in these moments, when important decisions might need to be made, that the players are lost in their own little worlds.”
Ronaldo didn’t let that go, though, and took to Instagram following the comments from his former boss.
On his Instragam page, Ronaldo posted an image of him, Bruno Alves, Pepe and Jose Fonte with the Euros trophy, with the simple caption: “Quick remind (Portugal and ‘top’ emoji).”
Although the two won’t be on the same side next season, Juventus vs Roma may be a date for the diary with the Portuguese duo set to lock horns once again.
This Story First Appeared At The Football London
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