Former Barcelona full-back Dani Alves has denied that he was involved in a running feud with Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo during his time in Spain.
The pair clashed on a number of occasions during their El Clasico battles, while Alves often seemed to taunt the four-time Ballon d'Or winner in the media.
However, the Brazilian claims that his comments were twisted by the media and insists that he has enormous respect for Ronaldo.
"If people only knew how much I respect Cristiano Ronaldo. I will repeat it to make myself clear: I respect Cristiano Ronaldo," he told ABC.
"When I spoke about him being too selfish, when you win you are going to be the star but when you lose they will go for you, so I said it in a very respectful way.
"What happens is that the press portrayed them differently, saying that I had spoken ill of him. And Ronaldo believed it. That's why he did not greet me at the Ballon d'Or gala in 2015."
Alves, who now plays for Juventus, also launched a scathing attack on former club Barcelona, branding them "false and ungrateful".
Barney Corkhill
