Andrea Pirlo explains what it was like to manage Cristiano Ronaldo

The iconoic midfielder coached Ronaldo for one season at the Old Lady in 2020/21 where Ronaldo scored 36 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions

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It was Pirlo's first job in senior management and he got the biggest job in Italy, but only lasted one season as they failed to win the Serie A title and went out of the Champions League to Porto in the Round of 16.

Despite that, Pirlo got the best out of Ronaldo and the Portuguese consistently delivered goals.

He told the Daily Mail: "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.

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"We didn't have a problem but football changes very quickly. Age also."

Pirlo then spoke about the issues Ronaldo faced at Manchester United after his contract was terminated with the club in November last year.

Ronaldo was unhappy at Old Trafford and his forthright views on the club and Erik ten Hag in an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV saw his contract terminated.

But Pirlo only has good things to say about Ronaldo, adding: "Maybe he had a problem with another team, but for me it was a good experience."

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Ronaldo is now at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia where he is the highest-paid player in world football, having agreed to a two-season deal worth £175 million-per-campaign.

The forward is 38 now but his manager at Al Nassr, Rudi Garcia, believes he has the legs to have one more stint in Europe and won't retire at the Saudi club after the expiry of his contract.

Ronaldo had scored just one goal in his first three games for his new club but on Thursday night netted four goals against Al Wheda, taking him past the 500 career league goals milestone.

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