Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo says he is looking forward to a reunion with former club Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League group stage.
Ronaldo left the Portuguese side back in 2003 to make the move to England with Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United.
The now 31-year-old made his first professional appearance with Lisbon, having joined the club’s youth academy when he was 12.
“It’s a special match, it’s a special team, to play Sporting again is a privilege for me,” Ronaldo said in an interview with uefa.com.
The reigning champions are hoping to become the first team to win back-to-back Champions League trophies, for the first time since the competition was restructured back in 1992.
And Ronaldo says he and his teammates are quietly confident of achieving the feat.
“It’s a great challenge and I think at Real we have a chance to win it again,” he added.
“We know it’s a very difficult competition…but we think positive, that it’s possible to win it again.”
The winger returned to action on the weekend and it did not take long for him to make an impact, scoring six minutes into the 5-2 rout of Osasuna.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
