Antonio Conte’s Spurs side take on Man United in midweek and he is well aware of the threat Cristiano Ronaldo will bring to the table.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Spurs last season as Man United ran out as 3-2 winners at Old Trafford.
Conte is keen to avoid falling into a similar trap this time around and claims he is well aware of the threat Ronaldo will bring.
The Spurs manager was asked how highly he rates Ronaldo and explained (via Football London): “I think I am the last person to make this question, because last season he scored a hat-trick against us!
“And fingers crossed… We are talking about an amazing player, a top player, in my opinion, we are talking about a player, that continues to make the difference for the team that he is playing for.
“Cristiano with Messi, they made the story of football in the last 10 years, in the last 15 years.”
Ronaldo has had a troublesome start to the 2022/23 campaign, but he has started in back-to-back games for United.
The 37-year-old scored his 700th career goal against Everton after coming on as a first-half substitute.
He scored in each of Man United’s games against Spurs last season and boasts an impressive record against the north London side.
Across his 20 appearances against Spurs, Ronaldo has scored 14 goals and provided five assists.
Conte added: “I think every single word is not good enough to explain the greatness of these players. I have great admiration for Cristiano, for his professionalism, but I hope tomorrow to stay calm, not like last season, when he scored three goals.
“We lost 3-2, but we lost against him, not against United last season. I remember very well, because we played a very good game, and he solved the situation a lot.”
The game on Wednesday could come too soon for Anthony Martial, who has missed United’s last two matches through injury.
Erik ten Hag’s side were unable to get past Newcastle at the weekend as they played out a frustrating goalless draw.
Spurs have their own injury issues coming into the fixture as Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison recently picked up knocks.
Conte is hopeful to have Kulusevski back soon as he explained: “The medical department are working to recover him, but at the same time, sometimes there are situations that you have to go a bit slowly and not to accelerate the process.
“Because sometimes if you accelerate the process, you risk only to worsen the situation. For this reason, we need to have patience.
“The…
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