Jose Mourinho says Cristiano Ronaldo is from another universe and that it would be a crime if he did not win the Ballon d’Or.
Mourinho has given an interview to A Bola in his native Portugal in which he praised and defended the Real Madrid player like never before.
“It would be a crime if Cristiano did not win it [the Ballon d’Or],” said Mourinho, who admitted he had asked himself who was the best player in the world after last weekend’s El Clasico, despite saying it should be forbidden to talk about it.
“On Sunday I asked myself after a fantastic match, and I tried to find a fair and respectful response, who it was [the best player], not only concerning my own player but also his rival [Lionel Messi].
“Afterwards, when someone with as much responsibility as me comes out and says that his is the best player in the world then I will say this.
“Mine was not born in Madeira, he was born on Mars so is not from planet Earth. Therefore he is the best player in the universe.”
Mourinho went further in his defence of the former Manchester United man and compared him to Messi.
“I’ll say more. It is harder to be Cristiano Ronaldo than it is to be Lionel Messi, who grew up with the team and the teammates with whom he is now playing.
“Cristiano was in England and was brought here to a team that had lost its dynamic. He has had to grow over the last two years in a team that is still being formed.
“One plays as a No 9 or a No 9.5 and there, within 50 square metres, in that area, the distance to the goal is less and the defensive space less intense.
“The other plays out wide, he is a winger. How is it that a winger scores the same goals as a forward?” he asked rhetorically.
“He is a winger who defends, who in the 94th minute is capable of a defensive sprint to get behind Pedro, who was unmarked. He is a player who in dead-ball situations gets back 20 times because he is key in the defensive strategy.
“Ronaldo is not protected by anybody or because of anybody. Rivals see the body of an animal and they kick him. Bang! Bang! To get a yellow card they need to do that a lot. Bang! Another, no [yellow card]. A foul and then the first yellow, but they can’t touch him after that because it would be a red.”
The Portuguese then reiterated his claim that Ronaldo should receive the Ballon d’Or.
“If they give it to the best, or they give it to Cristiano or Messi, I ask myself that if they are equals then why has one won four and the other only one? No. The normal thing would be for one to have three and the other two.
“If Cristiano does not win this year’s award then it is because it is not very nice, he doesn’t sell his image well, and does not give interviews in which he apologises for arguing with a teammate on the pitch,” concluded Mourinho, in alleged reference to Messi’s on-field spat with David Villa against Granada.
