'Very arrogant guy' - Ex-La Liga striker slams Cristiano Ronaldo's toxic attitude during Real Madrid tenure & claims it was always 'unpleasant' coming up against Portuguese icon

Pandiani, who played for several clubs across Spain and England, including Birmingham City, Espanyol and Osasuna, called Ronaldo arrogant and rude while narrating an incident involving the 40-year-old during a La Liga clash.

Speaking to AS, the 49-year-old said: "The Osasuna players are very passionate, they would whistle and insult him as soon as he came out to warm up. That made him angry and, while he was practising free kicks, he would shoot at people. Because of that, the match started in a tense atmosphere. During a foul in Madrid's favour, Cristiano pushed my teammate Javier Camunas and I went to defend him. I pushed Cristiano, he asked me who I was and how much I earned."

Pandiani added: "The argument continued in the locker room tunnel with him and Sergio Ramos. I was very angry and so were they. I didn't like his attitude at all. He was an arrogant guy. As a goalscorer, he was great, but his behaviour left a lot to be desired. Afterwards, José Mourinho (then Real Madrid manager, editor's note) said I was looking for free publicity even though I had been playing in the first division for eleven years. It was very unpleasant."

Ronaldo will kick off the new season with Al-Nassr on Tuesday as they take on Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Super Cup semi-final. Their first Saudi Pro League game is against Al-Taawoun on Friday.