Manchester United legend sends message to Cristiano Ronaldo after brace on Friday night for Al Nassr

Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand took to X to provide his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo's performance for Al-Nassr in their 2-0 league win over Damac on Friday, November 29. Ferdinand wrote:

"Slow down bro."

It was an impressive outing from the Portuguese superstar who bagged both goals. A penalty in the first half (17') followed by a simple finish in the second (79') ensured his team took home all three points.

Ferdinand and Ronaldo have enjoyed a cordial relationship even after their playing days under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. The pair joined the Red Devils in similar timeframes, going on to make 221 appearances together, winning three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and one Champions League.

The former defender also recently made an appearance on the 39-year-old's YouTube channel, having an open conversation about various things in and outside of football.

Ronaldo's brace keeps Al-Nassr in third place in the Saudi Pro League as he chases his first piece of silverware since joining the Middle East. The Knights of Najd are five points off the top but have played a match more than the top two teams, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal.

Ronaldo once spoke about the team he'd never swap jerseys with following incident at Manchester United

Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo once revealed that he would never exchange jerseys with AS Roma players. The Portuguese legend stated that the behaviour of the Giallorossi players during a fixture in 2007 prompted him to make the decision.

The Italian side were facing Manchester United in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Coming off a 2-1 win at home in the first leg, they crumbled as the Red Devils decimated them 7-1, with Ronaldo grabbing a pair of goals.

However, some players reportedly requested him to stop inflicting further damage, while others threatened to injure him. This is what he had to say back in 2018 (via the Daily Express):

“When it was 6-0, they asked me to stop, an opponent begged me to stop dribbling."

“Others threatened to hurt me. Roma? There is no player with whom I would exchange a shirt.”

The 39-year-old maintained his stance even during his stint in Italy with Juventus. Overall, he has enjoyed a fruitful time against Roma in his career, facing off against them 12 times and winning on nine occasions. They are the Portuguese's favourite Italian opponents as well, as his 10 goals against them is the most he has scored against any Serie A side in his career.