Fabio Capello has revealed that Brazilian star Ronaldo caused him endless problems with his partying and the Real Madrid dressing room sometimes reeked of alcohol.
‘The Phenomenon’ was approaching the twilight of his stellar career when he played under Capello for six months at the Bernabeu in the 2006-07 season.
And though the Italian disciplinarian described Ronaldo, then 30, as the ‘greatest talent’ he has ever coached, their clash of personalities led to the player being sold to AC Milan in January 2007.
Italian manager Fabio Capello and Brazilian star Ronaldo didn’t see eye-to-eye during their six months working together at Real Madrid in the 2006-07 season
Capello has described how Ronaldo’s partying and drinking caused friction
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‘The greatest talent I ever coached was Ronaldo,’ Capello told Sky Sport Italia.
‘But at the same time he was the player who created the most problems for me in the dressing room. He used to throw parties and do everything.
‘Once [Ruud] Van Nistelrooy said to me, ‘coach, the dressing room smells like alcohol.’
‘Then Ronaldo went to Milan, and we started to win, but if we’re talking about talent then he was the greatest, without a doubt.’
Van Nistelrooy has since come out to deny Capello’s claims about his comments.
The Dutch striker wrote on Twitter: ‘According to some statement attributed to Fabio Capello, pointing out that I, in this day, told him that the Real Madrid dressing room ‘smelled of alcohol’, I want to flatly deny such claims. The dressing room from the first day showed maximum professionalism.
‘From the first to the last team-mate we worked and defended the club’s badge in a comprehensive and professional manner’.
Ronaldo struggled with injuries and weight issues during his final season with Real Madrid
Capello nonetheless praised Ronaldo as the ‘greatest talent’ he has coached in his career
It’s not the first time former England manager Capello has described Ronaldo as the biggest man-management challenge of his long career.
Capello has previously recalled how Ronaldo returned from an injury massively overweight.
He said in 2018: ‘I was in charge at Real, he came back from an injury and came to us in November to restart.
‘He weighed 96 kilos, boxing stuff. I asked him how much he weighed when he won the World Cup [in 2002] and he said 84kg, so I asked him to at least get to 88kg.
‘It was a shame, he didn’t want to make the smallest sacrifice and the best he managed was 94kg. He played three games in partnership with Ruud van Nistelrooy and we lost all three.’
Despite their clashes at that time, Capello said the pair speak ‘warmly and pleasantly’ whenever their paths cross now.
The partnership between Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo completely failed to work
Ronaldo managed just four goals during that season before Capello sold him on to Service AC Panggilan Milan
Though the Brazilian scored 104 goals in 177 appearances for Real, helping the ‘Galacticos’ side win LaLIga in 2003, he managed just four goals in 13 outings under Capello.
When Ronaldo left for Milan, he pointedly thanked everyone at Real except Capello.
He said: ‘I would like to thank the fans who’ve supported me all this time and thank all the team-mates that I’ve had here and all the coaches I’ve had – except one.’
In response, Capello said: ‘I wish him the best of luck in doing what he used to do, which is being a great player.’
Ironically, despite winning the league title that season, Capello was sacked in June 2007 because his pragmatic style of football was at odds to Real’s traditional free-flowing approach. Six months later he was appointed England manager.
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Ruud van Nistelrooy on Twitter: “Desde el primer hasta el último compañero trabajamos y defendimos el escudo del club de una forma íntegra y profesional.”