Cristiano Ronaldo has cut out milk from his diet (Getty)
Cristiano Ronaldo’s former private chef has revealed that the 41-year-old has banned milk from his diet.
Ronaldo is about to complete his 25th season as a professional footballer and is closing in on 1000 career goals after scoring his 969th in Al-Nassr’s win last weekend.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward has maintained a strict diet throughout his career and has frequently attributed his strict and clean diet as a key factor behind his longevity in football.
Giorgio Barone, who used to prepare Ronaldo’s meals, has revealed that the footballer has cut milk from his diet, despite it being a good source of protein and calcium.
Cristiano Ronaldo is able to maintain body fat levels well below 10 per cent with his strict diet (Instagram)
‘Humans are the only animals that drink the milk of other animals. No other animal drinks milk after three months. Calves don’t drink milk after the age of three months. Animals don’t drink the milk of other animals.
‘It does not exist in nature. Only human beings continue to drink milk up to 30, 40, 50, and 60 years, and in my view it is wrong. We breastfeed from our mothers, like dogs, wolves, cows and donkeys. It is normal.
‘After infancy it is not normal. It is against nature.’
Ronaldo, who uses saunas and ice baths as part of his recovery, is also able to maintain body fat levels below 10 per cent through a high-protein diet that avoids sugar and carbohydrates that include flour, such as pasta and bread.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez frequently use saunas (Instagram)
‘Cristiano Ronaldo’s diet is balanced,’ Barone said. ‘He eats a little bit of everything, but it’s always healthy.
‘Starting with breakfast, he would have an avocado with coffee, eggs and no sugar. Absolutely no sugar. Lunch could be chicken, fish and always vegetables. If he needs carbohydrates, he gets them through vegetables, so he doesn’t need anything made with flour.
‘Nothing like pasta, bread and other types of food. In the evening, he eats light foods, usually fish or meat in the form of fillet. It’s always accompanied by vegetables.’
The Gunners have seen the title taken out of their hands following a damaging 2-1 defeat to rivals Manchester City last weekend.
And a midweek win against Burnley for Pep Guardiola’s side means City now sit top of the table with only five games remaining of the season.
Arsenal, who only two weeks ago were nine points clear of City, have seen their quest for silverware falter after only one win in their last six matches in all competitions.
And Merson believes that Mikel Arteta’s side could soon find themselves out of contention in the league if they don’t get back to winning ways against an out-of-form Newcastle.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Merson said: ‘This is a humungous football match. Newcastle have lost to Barcelona, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, four losses on the trot.
‘You’d think Arsenal should win this, but Newcastle often do well in this fixture!
Mikel Arteta’s side have lost back-to-back league games (Picture: Getty)
‘Arsenal have four big fixtures coming up over the next two weeks. After this game, they face Atletico Madrid away from home in the Champions League semi-final and host Fulham next weekend before the return leg against Diego Simeone’s team.
‘That is a tricky run. And let’s be honest, Arsenal have been losing a bit of control in recent weeks. They have started to wobble at the wrong time. That Bournemouth defeat hurt them the most. If they at least got a draw in that game, they could have been a point ahead of City now.
‘If Arsenal don’t win this game, it’s all over in the title race. They are literally in last chance saloon now. City are above Arsenal only because they’ve scored more goals. So there is still a possibility of Arsenal winning every game and still losing the title due to City scoring more than them!’
Arsenal face Newcastle on Saturday (Picture: Getty)
However, Merson reckons that the manner of City’s win against Burnley, combined with their fixture schedule over the next fortnight, means all hope is not yet lost for Arsenal as both sides enter the final stretch.
‘Like I said before, City winning by just the odd goal against Burnley puts the ball back in Arsenal’s court,’ he said. ‘The reason why I say Arsenal have an advantage is because they play twice before City’s next game away at Everton.
‘So they could be six points ahead before Guardiola’s men take the trip to Merseyside, which will be a tough game for City. If Arsenal win their next two games, the will put all the pressure back on their rivals.
‘I haven’t seen enough from City to suggest they will not let in goals during games. Even against Burnley, they conceded big chances. Arsenal should just win the next two games at all cost and if they do it, I can sense them back to being in control in the title race.’
And while Merson is hopeful that his former club will be able to win on Saturday, the ex-Gunners midfielder urged caution, saying: ‘This has always been an entertaining fixture in the last few seasons.
‘Even though I’m backing Arsenal to win, I don’t think the result is a foregone conclusion here.’
Cunha was forced off during last weekend’s 1-0 win over Chelsea after suffering discomfort in his right groin.
Meanwhile, Mbeumo also limped off in the closing stages at Stamford Bridge when he was replaced by Joshua Zirkzee.
Michael Carrick did not provide an update on the attacking duo in Thursday’s pre-match press conference, although Mbeumo was seen in training that morning.
Cunha, however, was not pictured training with the team as he undertook a recovery day away from the rest of the squad.
Elsewhere, Leny Yoro was not fit enough to return to training on Thursday, but Carrick sounded hopeful that the Frenchman could return against Brentford after missing out last weekend due to a knock.
‘We’re still working on [Leny],’ he said. ‘So, there’s a possibility, there’s a possibility, but at this stage, it’s not 100 per cent sure.’
Matheus Cunha was forced off against Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
At #mufc training this morning – Leny Yoro not back yet but hopeful he’ll be fit for Monday v Brentford.Matheus Cunha on a recovery day.Rest of the squad there + Shea Lacey & Tyler and Jack Fletcher. pic.twitter.com/L503lRLKPE
Carrick also provided an update on Patrick Dorgu, who has not featured since injuring his hamstring in late January.
‘Patrick’s working his way to being back,’ the Red Devils boss added.
‘He’s certainly making good progress and back closer to training with us, which is positive, so that’s good news.’
United will be able to welcome Harry Maguire back from suspension, but remain without Lisandro Martinez as he serves the second game of his three-match ban.
Matthijs de Ligt remains unavailable with a back issue, which has kept him out since late November.
The Blues are all but out of contention for finishing in the Champions League places and now face a fight on their hands to qualify for Europe altogether next season.
The task of securing European football for the next campaign now falls on Calum McFarlane, who has been placed in interim charge of the side until the end of the season.
The former academy coach, who took charge of the team for two games following Enzo Maresca’s exit, will be keeping the Chelsea manager hotseat warm until an appointment is made this summer.
The new manager will be the sixth permanent boss of the BlueCo ownership’s spell, having churned through Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Mauricio Pochettino, Maresca and now Rosenior.
The turbulence of the ownership’s reign has become a source of immense discontent amongst the club’s fanbase, with anti-BlueCo songs heard once again during the Brighton game.
Liam Rosenior appeared to apologise to Chelsea fans after the defeat to Brighton (Picture: Getty)
Next permanent manager odds
According to bookmakers Betfair, former Chelsea left back Filipe Luis is the favourite to become the next permanent manager at 5/4
The 40 year-old impressed in his first role in management at Flamengo, winning a host of trophies including the Brazilian league title and the Copa Libertadores, before leaving the club back in March.
Luis also held talks with BlueCo earlier this year over a move to Strasbourg, with the secret discussions said to be part of the reason behind his exit from the Brazilian giants.
Former Chelsea star and current Como boss Cesc Fabregas is next with the bookmakers with Olivier Glasner and Andoni Iraola, who will leave Crystal Palace and Bournemouth respectively at the end of the season, also in the running.
McFarlane has been installed as the fourth favourite to take the job full-time, ahead of the likes of Oliver Glasner, Xavi and Marco Silva.
Lampard has only just returned Coventry to the Premier League after a 25-year absence, winning the Championship title in style with 26 wins from their 44 games to date.
Chelsea manager for the start of the 2026/27 Premier League season
Filipe Luis 5/4
Cesc Fabregas 5/2
Oliver Glasner 10/3
Andoni Iraola 5/1
Xavi Hernandez 15/2
Roberto De Zerbi 25/1
Marco Silva 9/1
Unai Emery 14/1
Frank Lampard 14/1
Fabian Hurzeler 16/1
Xabi Alonso 16/1
Luis Enrique 20/1
Julian Nagelsmann 22/1
Kjetil Knutsen 25/1
Ruben Amorim 33/1
Jurgen Klopp 33/1
Thomas Tuchel 33/1
Zinedine Zidane 33/1
Jose Mourinho 40/1
The Gunners found themselves in an imperious position in the title race earlier this month, knowing victory over Bournemouth would have opened up a 12-point lead at the top of the table.
A moment of brilliance from Rayan Cherki ensured Arsenal got off to the worst possible start in Manchester, but the visitors found an immediate response through Kai Havertz at the other end of the pitch – gifted to them by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
City rallied again, though, with Erling Haaland scoring what proved to be the winner in the 65th minute, while Eberechi Eze hit the woodwork and Havertz squandered two golden chances in a pulsating second half.
Giving his thoughts on the latest episode of The Overlap, Wright outlined the positives has has taken from Arsenal’s setback, now that the dust has settled.
Arteta’s side slipped to second as City beat Burnley on Wednesday (Picture: Getty)
Haaland scored the decisive goal in City’s victory over title rivals Arsenal (Picture: Getty)
‘I was obviously very emotional last time [on the last show], I was very emotional about it. But leading into that was obviously Southampton and Bournemouth so I was reeling off of that, and it wasn’t great against Sporting,’ the ex-Arsenal and England striker said.
‘But I said in the last show that I just wanted to see something from us, show us that you can do something, you can give us something.
‘If we’d won the game previously and done well getting to Manchester City, there’s never going to be the: it’s decided on the Manchester City game. You want to try and get that cushion so when you play that game, whatever happens, you’re okay because you’ll beat the rest.
‘So leading into that and the way we played, obviously, I was disappointed. But we played well enough to win the game, we should have at least got the draw out of that game.’
Up Next
Wright felt Arsenal were ultimately punished by their lack of ‘ruthlessness’ in front of goal in Sunday’s top-of-the-table showdown.
‘Watching Eze, [Martin] Odegaard and Havertz, we created the kind of chances that we should have taken. We should have taken them,’ he added.
‘When you watch City, they do give chances up and if you’re going to be ruthless, you take them and Arsenal could have won that game.
‘Haaland had one chance, bam, took it, so I’m a lot better now because now what they’ve got to do is be ruthless with everything.’
Up Next
Based on what he saw in the performance against City, Wright is hopeful Arsenal will have enough to win the title, even if it is a case of ‘creeping over the line’.
‘I’m gonna go with: we’re going to win the league,’ he replied when asked for his title prediction.
‘The chances we created against that City side, I think we could do the same against the teams coming. Obviously we’re going to have to be a lot more ruthless with taking our chances.
‘But before that, leading into that, I didn’t see us creating enough chances in the games leading into that, in a time where with the history of what we’re doing in this stage of the season, we’ve kind of faltered.
Havertz squandered a huge chance to level late on at the Etihad (Picture: Getty)
‘I thought in that Man City game, the big game, we created enough chances where if we do that against other teams and get ourselves back to that defensive solidity that we had before leading into this part of the season and finish this with ruthlessness.
‘We started the season with ruthlessness with people saying, “Oh, it’s Arsenal’s, it’s Arsenal’s to lose”, everybody was saying it, because we looked absolutely faultless in the way we were.
‘Now, everybody’s faltering and in this City game I thought we did enough. if we can play like that, even if we’re trying to creep over the line, we can probably do it.’
The Gunners remain firmly in the hunt, says Wright (Picture: Getty)
Wright called on those players with experience of winning major titles to step up and drag the rest of the squad back on track after what will have been a difficult few days.
‘We’ve got to find the fight,’ Wright, Arsenal’s second-highest goalscorer in history, continued.
‘We’ve got Piero Hincapie who has won the Bundesliga, we’ve got Gabriel Jesus and we’ve got Jurrien Timber who has won in Holland, three players who have seen it off.
‘They need to step into that team and try to make them understand what it’s going to take to finish this off because everybody in there will be having doubts, there’s nothing wrong with that.’
Looking ahead to this weekend’s action, Wright backed his beloved club to come away from their clash with Newcastle with all three points.
‘We’re winning this game, either 2-0 or 3-0,’ he said.
‘I think we have [got that in us]… 3-0! We need that kind of result.’
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