Pepe had a lot of options when he had to choose one player from Barcelona who he wished could play for Real Madrid but he surprised everyone when he revealed it would be Andre Gomes.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have some of the best players in the world. Their two attacking trios have become world renowned for their ridiculous goalscoring. Messi Suarez and Neymar have been especially prolific in the last two seasons.
Anyone with the chance of picking one player from that team of superstars would narrow it down to those three. But Pepe decided to play the countryman card by going with Andre Gomes, one of Barcelona’s summer signings.
He reportedly was also wanted by Real Madrid but chose to join their La Liga rivals. He hasn’t seen too much action in the league yet but he did star against Celtic in the Champions League in midweek.
He hasn’t had enough game time to be judged but Pepe is convinced he is a world beater. Speaking to Cadena Ser he said, “No, I think we're alright... Andre Gomes? Yes, we played together in the national team, but he wanted to go to Barcelona.”
It might be a case of slight country bias but it is a very shocking name to pick. Being a Madrid player also makes it difficult to pick someone from your nearest and dearest rivals. In a way, it is understandable why Pepe found it difficult to answer that particular question.
Gomes lifted the Euro 2016 trophy with Portugal and was part of the first team with Ronaldo and Pepe. They weren't even considered outsiders at the start of the tournament and when they came up against France in the final most predicted the hosts to win who had been impressive throughout the competition.
But Portugal were able to dig deep and overcome their opponents in 120 minutes, despite losing Ronaldo to an injury early on in the match. By doing so they exorcized the demons of Euro 2004 and finally brought cheer to their country.
Ronaldo scores emotional goal against Sporting
Ronaldo recently returned to the Real Madrid first team after an extended layoff because of his injury and it was a goalscoring return for him in La Liga. But the great free-kick he scored against his old side Sporting Lisbon was of much more importance.
They were trailing at the Bernabeu until the Portuguese stepped up and scored the free-kick that got his team level. Then with seconds left in the game, Alvaro Morata scored the winner to give Zidane all three points in their first UCL game.
