Former Juventus star, Andrea Pirlo, has named his most difficult opponent and revealed an interesting opinion about Cristiano Ronaldo.
Who Did Andrea Pirlo Name As His Hardest Opponent Of All-Time?
The Italian soccer legend is currently undertaking a break from the sport following his separation from Sampdoria, but the former Juventus player is never truly away from soccer.
During his illustrious playing career, Pirlo played for a multitude of Serie A sides including AC Milan, Inter and Juventus, winning six Serie A titles, two Champions Leagues, two Coppa Italia trophies and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Pirlo also saw success with the Italian national side, winning the 2006 World Cup and making 116 appearances for the Azzurri between 2002 and 2015.
Playing for over 15-years, Pirlo came up against some of the best players of all-time between 2001-2017 and the classy midfielder recently name his toughest opponents he faced.
Pirlo said: “I have played against too many players – Messi, Ronaldo, Zidane. Choosing just one is nearly impossible because each opponent had their own strengths that required different approaches and strategies. The pressure to perform at your best against the best tests your abilities.”
The 46-year-old played against Lionel Messi on one occasion, as the two battled it out in the 2015 Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus.
It was the Argentinian who reigned supreme, registering an assist in Barcelona’s 3-1 victory and winning Europe’s biggest trophy at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Juventus and Barcelona are a hot topic at this current moment in time, as the Italian side have reignited their interest in Barca star, Ronald Araujo, this summer.
Moving on to the second player Pirlo named, Cristiano Ronaldo, these two faced off 12 times for club and country, with the Portuguese star winning six.
Half of these matches came during Ronaldo’s time with Real Madrid, where Pirlo only picked up one win against Los Blancos and drawing on three occasions.
Finally we have Zinedine Zidane, who enjoyed a lot of success against Pirlo, winning four of their seven encounters and losing on just one occasion.
However, this defeat came on the grandest stage of them all, as Italy beat France in the 2006 World Cup final, which brought Zidane’s iconic headbutt moment.
What Did Andrea Pirlo Say About Cristiano Ronaldo?
After making 756 appearances throughout his club career, the Italian retired from the sport in 2017 and began a career in management, becoming the Juventus manager in August 2020.
During his time as Juve boss, Pirlo worked with Ronaldo and managed the Portuguese superstar for 44 games – before being relieved of his duties in May 2021.
The Italian spoke about his relationship with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, revealing that it was ‘easy’ to work with Ronaldo and labeled him as a ‘good guy’.
Pirlo said: “For me, it was easy to work with him. He was a good guy, very professional. He wanted to play every game, to score every game. We didn’t have a problem but football changes very quickly. Age also.”
Ronaldo is currently playing his football in Saudi Arabia, however, new betting sites have priced a move back to Liga Portugal as the most likely outcome this summer.
