Real Madrid winger and teenage sensation Rodrygo, who on November 7 became the youngest player to score a perfect hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League at 18 years 301 days, revealed that he dreamt of playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, former Los Blancos winger who left the club last year to join Juventus.
The 18-year-old sensation from Brazil became the cynosure of all eyes since arriving from Santos – scoring five goals in six appearances for Real Madrid.
Rodrygo, who has arrived Ronaldo’s former club in 2019, has already earned comparisons to the 34-year-old Portuguese star, who scored a club-record 450 goals for Madrid before leaving for Juventus in July 2018.
“Being able to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid was a dream of mine and it’s a shame that he left because now I think it would be very difficult to play with him,” Rodrygo said at a Brazil news conference on Tuesday.
“I am still a very young player to talk about filling the place left by someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, who is one of the greatest players in the history of the club – if not the greatest.
“I don’t want to weigh myself down with the pressure of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Rodrygo’s treble came against Real Madrid’s 6-0 victory over Galatasaray in the Champions League.
He drew the first blood in just the 4th minute of the game and within 3 minutes of the goal he scored another. However, his third one came in the waning moments (90+2′) of the game.
Also known as ‘Neymarzinho’ for his looks and game, the teenage forward is looking to earn his first senior Brazil cap in Friday’s friendly with Argentina.