Cristiano Ronaldo News: Marcelo confesses he already knew about Ronaldo's Real Madrid exit plan

Modified Feb 11, 2019 16:13 GMT

Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo became good friends during their time together at Real Madrid.

What's the story?

Real Madrid left-back Marcelo has made a surprising revelation about his former teammate and Juventus ace Cristiano Ronaldo while talking to Brazilian television channel Esporte Interativo.

Marcelo told the channel that the Euro 2016 winner had confided in him just before last year's UEFA Champions League final in Kiev, that he had decided to leave the club at the end of the season.

Los Blancos lifted the coveted trophy for a record 13th time last May. Ronaldo, who failed to score in the final, added a fifth winner's medal to his long list of honors after Madrid defeated a strong Liverpool side.

In case you didn't know...

Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, and was the first player to breach the 100-goal mark as well as the first one to have won 100 games.

Marcelo, who has been with the LaLiga giants since 2007, has enjoyed a great spell with the club and has been an ever-present figure in their success, even scoring in the 2013-14 final against arch-rivals Atletico Madrid.

The Brazilian was heavily linked with a move to Turin by multiple reports, but he has decided to stay in Spain for now.

The heart of the matter

Marcelo spoke with Esporte Interativo after Los Blancos won their fifth consecutive league match, coming out the better Madrid side in the derby against Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Saturday.

He told the journalist Tatiana Mantovani that he was training before their Champions League final fixture when out of the blue, the Portuguese superstar came up to him and informed him of his decision to leave the club right after the match. That confession left Marcelo completely baffled.

Hora de conferir o papo exclusivo da @tatimantovani com o lateral Marcelo, do Real Madrid. A mesa do #DePlacaNoSpace vai repercutir agora. Chega mais! pic.twitter.com/S5FR6WTXyq
— Esporte Interativo (@Esp_Interativo) February 11, 2019

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As reported by AS, Marcelo said, "Holy shit, we were training for the final and he [Ronaldo] said to me: 'I'm leaving.'"

"So yes, he confessed it to me before the match," Marcelo added.

Although the 34-year-old has been in fine form with the Old Lady, Marcelo ruled out any potential move to reunite with his old mate and said that he's still a Madrid player. As reported by Goal, Marcelo said, "I'm still a Real Madrid player and I have a contract in force."