Emmanuel Adebayor recalled on how Jose Mourinho ‘killed’ Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring a hat-trick for Real Madrid.
The Togolese striker partnered Ronaldo at Real on a six-month deal from Manchester City in 2011.
It was also the first of Mourinho’s three campaigns in charge of Real, who were four points adrift of leaders Barcelona in La Liga at the time of Adebayor’s arrival in January.
Therefore, Mourinho decided to bring in a bit more firepower to his line-up in former Arsenal and Tottenham star Adebayor as Real already had an inferior goal difference of 22 to Barcelona.
And now the 35-year-old has given some insight into the relationship Mourinho had with Ronaldo at the Spanish capital.
“At Real, we were winning 3-0 at half-time. He (Mourinho) came into the dressing room and went mental. He kicked the fridge, kicked the television, threw water,” Adebayor told Daily Mail.
“He killed everyone. I remember he once killed Ronaldo after he scored a hat-trick. He said: ‘Everyone says you are the best in the world and you are playing badly. Show me you are the best.’
“Cristiano took it. Ronaldo could score a hat-trick but talk about the one he missed.”
Ronaldo scored an incredible 53 goals in 54 games that season. However, the Portuguese ended up being pipped to the Ballon d’Or award by Lionel Messi after the Barcelona star matched his goal tally.
Nevertheless, Ronaldo’s brilliance left a lasting impression on Adebayor.
The Togo international added: “He trained with us at Real Madrid as though he was training with his kids.
“Passes with his back, control with his neck. He once kept the ball for five seconds with one touch! How is that even possible?
“In the gym, wow. Sergio Ramos and I were the strongest. But then came Ronaldo. ‘You think that’s hard?’ he’d say. We’d do five reps and he’d do 30.”
Adebayor scored eight goals in 22 appearances during his short stay at Los Blancos before returning to City.
Meanwhile, Real ended things with just a Copa del Rey trophy to show for their efforts as Barcelona won La Liga by four points.
The Catalan giants also eliminated their arch-rivals in the 2011 Champions League semi-finals.
