Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo formed a magnificent partnership when they played together at Real Madrid.
At their peak during Los Blancos’ title-winning 2011/12 campaign, they were simply unstoppable. No duo in European football dovetailed quite as well as the German playmaker and the Portuguese striker.
Across all competitions, Ronaldo bagged an astonishing 60 goals during the season, while Ozil racked up an impressive 28 assists – many of which were converted by the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Within little more than a year, though, the pair saw their prolific double act broken up when Ozil fell out of favour at the Bernabeu and was sold to Arsenal.
Ronaldo was reportedly far from happy about the departure of his partner in crime and was said to have told his Portugal teammates at the time: “He was the player who best knew my moves in front of goal… I’m angry about Ozil leaving.”
Ozil’s career would never quite hit the same heights again.
Although he enjoyed several solid seasons at the Emirates Stadium – including a 2015/16 campaign where he finished top of the Premier League assists chart – his time in north London ended on a sour note when he was frozen out of the first-team before having his contract terminated six months early.
His time with Fenerbahce ended in another ugly split and the 34-year-old reportedly now plans to quit football after his most recent club, Istanbul Basaksehir, terminated his contract.
While the last few years have not been kind to Ozil, fan’s around the world still look back fondly on his time alongside Ronaldo at Real.
Following news on his decision to hang up his boots, a clip of a fan asking Ozil what it was like to play with Ronaldo has gone viral.
You can check out the exchange – and Ozil’s fantastic reply – below.
Video: Mesut Ozil’s superb response to fan who asked what it was like to play with Cristiano Ronaldo
When quizzed about his memories of lining up alongside the Al-Nassr star, Ozil swiftly replied: “Ask him, he played with me‘.
Of course, Ozil was only having a bit of fun with the supporter. However, as you’ll see in the following highlights package of himself and Ronaldo in action, he definitely held up his end of the bargain with one of the greatest players ever to lace up a pair of boots.
While they haven’t played together in close to a decade, it’s clear that Ozil still has a great deal of respect for Ronaldo.
Speaking about the Portuguese icon’s record-breaking move to Saudi Arabia late last year, Ozil took a shot at Ronaldo’s critics on social media, blasting them for not showing more appreciation for the Manchester United legend.
“I really don’t get where this constant negativity from the press about Cristiano comes from,” he wrote.
“He is soon 38 years old – so what’s the surprise that he doesn’t score 50 goals a season anymore? Every football fan out there should be happy to have seen him playing world-class football for 20 years.”
SOURCE: givemesport.com
