Cristiano Ronaldo has heaped praise on his former boss Jose Mourinho in a recent interview withCoach magazine.
The Portuguese duo worked together when Mourinho managed Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013 - the self proclaimed 'Special One' was brought in by the Los Blancos hierarchy to stop the dominance of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side and end several frustrating seasons at the Bernabeu.
Cristiano Ronaldo says Jose Mourinho was a "great thinker" at Real Madrid https://t.co/dafckGRQZ7 pic.twitter.com/O8kUUQJnJb
The former Chelsea boss proved a rather divisive figure in his three years at Madrid and despite winning the La liga title in the 2011/2012 season, Mourinho left the club a year later by mutual consent, despite earliersigning a contract extension keeping him at the Bernabeu until 2016.
Whilst the Spanish media were hostile towards the Portuguese for much of his time in Spain's capital, the fans were also sceptical of their team's manager, who froze out legendary goalkeeper Iker Casilas in the 2012/2013 season.
It was also rumoured that Mourinho had a strained relationshipwith Real Madrid's club record signing Cristiano Ronaldo, but the three times Ballon d'Or winner seems to have quashed these suggestions in the interview with Coach magazine.
The Madrid number seven admitted he has admiration for his former coach and singled out the 53-year-oldfor his attention to detail.
"I have played for a lot of coaches," Ronaldo said, "but Mourinho was a great thinker.
"He would study everything down to the absolute smallest detail."
Regardless of any hostilities between the two, Ronaldo was still able to score an incredible 168 goals during Mourinho's three year stint at the Bernabeu. He clearly still respects his former boss, who has since won the Premier League with Chelsea once again, before joining Manchester United this summer.