Matuidi reveals why Ronaldo impressed him more than all his other teammates

Blaise Matuidi shared the dressing room with some of the best players of his generation — Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann in the France national team, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani at PSG. Yet it was Cristiano Ronaldo who left the deepest impression on him.

After leaving PSG in 2017, the World Cup-winning midfielder joined Juventus Turin, where he played alongside CR7 for several seasons. An experience he describes without hesitation. “Cristiano Ronaldo, for us, it was quite huge,” he says.

What struck Matuidi was not so much raw talent as the Portuguese player’s daily discipline. “You could see what was best in the world, whether it was in the desire to work and especially in his ability to repeat the right things, the efforts. And it actually pays off,” he explains. The former France international also highlights the impact of this rigor on the squad: “Even at a fairly advanced age, it helped us stay performing over the long term.”

A testimony that illustrates the influence Ronaldo, beyond his statistics, exerted on the players who worked alongside him daily in Turin.