“I saw a few days ago they scored two goals in the last minutes, 91 and 93,” he said. “I had a bet that Manchester United would win the league but I lost. I feel very disappointed because United are still in my heart. City have a fantastic team now, but I think Manchester will carry on being kings of England.”

Teasing like usual, Ronaldo left the door open to a potential return to United.

“The future? Nobody knows,” he said. “But I feel very happy here. It’s a great club, fantastic fans… it’s great. In one year or two you never know. A man’s head is always complicated.”

“I speak with Sir Alex sometimes and of course I miss Manchester,” Ronaldo told Zoo magazine. “It felt like I left a family back there because I spent six years with all those guys and I still have a very good relationship with Ferguson and the rest of the lads. I still speak with Rio Ferdinand, Nani, Anderson and Patrice Evra. I still see them as a big family, so of course I miss them. I especially miss the apple crumble and custard they served at Carrington after training — it was amazing!”

Asked what he particularly missed about working under Fergie, Ronaldo joked: “Ha! I miss his good moods all the time! Always happy. Ha ha! But he always had a good energy around the players and the team — and I miss that.”

Ronaldo has yet to win the league title in Spain, although his winning goal at the Nou Camp at the weekend all but confirmed they will be champions this season. However, he still holds the Champions League final victory over Chelsea as the best moment in his career.

“I’m enjoying my football so much at the moment and I think I’m much better now than when I was younger,” he added. “The best moments of my career so far have been when I won the Champions League with Manchester United and when I won my first title here with Real Madrid. And when I won the best player in the world, the Golden Boot — those were all special moments for me.”

“Sir Alex has a special place in my life. In fact, he was the main man,” said Ronaldo. “I was not famous, I was not a star. I arrived at Old Trafford as just another young talent. He was the one who told me to do all the right things. He gave me the opportunity to play in one of the biggest clubs in the world. So he is one of the most important people in the world for me. I worked with Sir Alex for a few years and I know he deserves ­everything that he has achieved in his career. He works so hard, he is clever, he has experience, he is a human guy.”

Now the tables have turned, with Ronaldo playing for the Spanish club, and claiming that one day he may return to United.

“I don’t close the door, so maybe in the future I hope so, because I know the league, I know the players, I know the atmosphere,” said Ronaldo. “Why not? I hope so one day, but you never know. The team that I like most in England is Manchester but I cannot say that I am going to play there one day because I am very, very happy in Madrid. I’ve said a few times that, if Madrid want, I can sign for ten years more until the finish of my career but nobody knows the future. I cannot lie to you and say I will stay here ten years, that I am not going to come back to Manchester. It is not fair on my part. Let’s see what future God has prepared for me.”

Ronaldo has also reflected on the importance of Sir Alex Ferguson on his career, claiming he is like a second father.

“I said a few times that to play for Real Madrid was my dream – as it was for Manchester too,” he continued. “For me they are the best clubs in the world, apart from maybe Barcelona, Chelsea, Arsenal, Milan. I’m really happy with what I did in Manchester because I don’t forget the six years that I played there. I have a lot of friends there. Sir Alex Ferguson is my second dad – he helped me a lot to improve and now Mr Mourinho too because they are experienced managers who win many things, so for me they are the best coaches. I have good memories from Manchester and when I watch sometimes the games I miss it a lot because it’s part of me I left in England. Just because I play in Madrid I’m not going to miss speaking with the old guys so, when I have an opportunity, I speak with Sir Alex Ferguson. It was important for me when I played there, when my life was there, so it is good to speak with him because I’ll never forget who really helped me.”

Winners
1956: Stanley Matthews (Blackpool at the time)
1964: Denis Law
1966: Bobby Charlton
1968: George Best
2001: Michael Owen (Liverpool at the time)
2008: Cristiano Ronaldo

Matthews was a war time guest player for United whilst Owen is a current United player. I realise these links are rather tenuous but it’s a nice little stat regardless.

Nevertheless, it’s impressive that United are so well represented for this award.

2nd
1967: Bobby Charlton
1968: Bobby Charlton
1999: David Beckham
2007: Cristiano Ronaldo

3rd
1957: Duncan Edwards (21-years-old)
1971: George Best
1993: Eric Cantona

Current Players
2002: Rio Ferdinand (21st)
2004: Wayne Rooney (8th)
2007: Wayne Rooney (26th), Ryan Giggs (30th).
2008: Wayne Rooney (13th), Nemanja Vidic (21st), Edwin Van der Sar (22nd),
2009: Wayne Rooney (8th), Ryan Giggs (14th), Nemanja Vidic (16th).

nb. Sadly, this award is entirely worthless though, as Paul Scholes’ absence proves the best players in Europe aren’t accurately awarded.

Rather than blame the three England players who then went on to miss their penalty, with the game finishing 0-0 after extra time, this country decided it was Ronaldo’s fault that England got knocked out of the World Cup.

Of course, if Ronaldo had stamped on Steven Gerrard’s balls and Rooney was stood right there but didn’t say anything to the referee, this country would have applauded him for standing by his club team mate, rather than his countryman, whilst wearing the shirt of his country. Er, right.

Rooney has stood up for Ronaldo today though by insisting that during that game he tries to get our former winger booked for diving.

“I went up to the referee and said he had dived and he should be booked,” he said. “No one saw that. Everyone saw mine because it was a red card.”

“To be honest I miss the Premier League a lot,” said Ronaldo. “Of course I have good memories about Manchester. I have good friends there and I miss them a lot, so you never know. Sir Alex Ferguson is like a second father for me. He helped me a lot during the six years I was in Manchester, he taught me many things.”

And how does Ronaldo rate Jose Mourinho, the man tipped to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager?

“I’m playing well because I’m in a good moment, because Jose is here, because I am a father now,” said Ronaldo. “Everything has worked together so I want to carry on like this until the end of the season. It’s fantastic to work with Jose. He is an experienced manager. The titles he has won speak for themselves. He doesn’t do anything special, he is a discipline coach and he pays attention to all the details. It’s amazing, I’m very much enjoying working with him.”

After the game, Bale claimed that he is using Cristiano Ronaldo has his inspiration to become unstoppable.

“Obviously teams are trying to stop me in a way, and obviously I’ve got to think of other ways to get past them,” said Bale. “I’m going to have to keep learning in training and in games and try things and hopefully improve as a player which will allow me to continue to thrive. And I think with all the world-class players these days, the likes of Ronaldo, teams double up on him all the time and he still finds a way. And, I think, as a player, you’ve got to keep trying to improve your game and make it an all-round game to kind of be unstoppable.”

I do wonder if Brazil boss, Mano Menezes, was watching United’s game against Spurs at the weekend as well as last night’s Champions League action at White Hart Lane. Maicon didn’t get close to Bale, whilst in contrast, Rafael kept him in his back pocket all evening.

It was also interesting to see Bale run the ball out of play against last night and put a cross in for Crouch to score. He did a similar thing at Old Trafford but Spurs failed to make anything of it. After questioning Nani’s sportmanship after the linesman failed to spot his handball, it’s interesting how frequently he makes the most of officials not paying attention…

Still, the lad is only 21-years-old and will certainly have a bright future. His contract doesn’t expire until 2014 though, so any club hoping to buy him will have to fork out a lot. With Spurs certainly making it past the group stages of Europe, and who knows from there, there will be temptation for him to stay. I’d love it if we signed him this summer though. Go on Giggsy, have a word!

“When I was in England United won many titles, trophies and cups,” Ronaldo said. “Last year they didn’t win anything special and this time they don’t play so good, but this is just a moment. We have to give United time to find themselves again. Although their style is similar, they have bought some different players and they have not always been at 100 per cent. But I am sure that they will be good again very soon. For five years I enjoyed working with Sir Alex Ferguson. I always had a good relationship with him and now I think of him as my friend as well as a great manager. For me Ferguson and Mourinho are the best managers in the world. One is young and one is older. But they have both won everything in football.”

2004 – FA Cup
2005 – Nothing
2006 – League Cup
2007 – Premiership
2008 – Premiership, European Cup
2009 – Premiership, League Cup

Now, as manager of Real Madrid, he has noticed what United fans witnessed for years, that Ronaldo gets kicked from pillar to post every game with little punishment imposed on the wrong do-ers.

“Cristiano is a player who does not have the culture of the swimming pool, he has no culture of simulation, he is a British-trained player, Ferguson trained,” said Mourinho. “In some cases, the simulators are given more protection, and those who are honest are often the losers. I’m not a hypocrite if I say that they hit Cristiano very hard, and that the yellow cards do not arrive or are slow in coming.”

His praise for the way Ferguson makes our players behave comes in direct contrast with the job he did whilst Chelsea manager.

After leaving the club in 2008, he acknowledge what a cheat Didier Drogba is.

“I am no longer Chelsea coach, and I do not have to defend them any more, but I think it is correct if I say Drogba is a diver.”