Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo Says He Was Sad to Leave Real Madrid

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo said on Monday he was sad to leave Real Madrid when he departed the Spanish capital after nine years in the summer of 2018. 

Ronaldo received the Marca Leyenda lifetime achievement award at a ceremony in Madrid and was involved in a question and answer session with five children.

Per Miguel Angel Garcia at Marca, one of the youngsters, Jorge, told Ronaldo, "It made me sad that you left Real Madrid," and the Portugal international replied, "Me too."

Ronaldo left Los Blancos as the club's all-time leading goalscorer. He racked up 451 goals in 438 appearances and led the club to a host of titles:

The forward stunned the football world by quitting Real Madrid less than two months after helping the club win a third consecutive UEFA Champions League crown.

He joined Juventus for €100 million on a four-year deal than runs until 2022. He later explained why he had made the move in an interview with France Football (h/t Dominic Fifield at the Guardian):

"I did not come to Juve for the money. I earned the same in Madrid, if not more. The difference is that, at Juve, they really wanted me. They told me that and made it clear. They showed me that. The truth is that the president wanted me but, at the same time, he made it known to me that my departure would not constitute a problem."

Ronaldo went on to help Juventus retain their Serie A title, although he could not add to his tally of Champions League titles. Juve were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Dutch side Ajax:

However, Real Madrid endured a poor first campaign without Ronaldo. The team finished third in La Liga, a distant 19 points behind champions Barcelona.

Los Blancos were also knocked out of the Copa del Rey by the Catalan giants, did not make it past the last 16 in the Champions League and sacked managers Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari before bringing back Zinedine Zidane for a second spell in charge in March.