Phil Neville was on commentary duty for BBC 5 Live at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night as Real Madrid hammered neighbours Atletico Madrid 3-0 in their Champions League semi-final first leg tie.
Real's goals came from a bountiful source, a hat-trick - the 47th of his career - by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese is a player well-known to Neville. He spent two seasons with Ronaldo at Man Utd.
Neville said during their mutual time at Man Utd, he saw the effort which Ronaldo made towards attaining his goal of being the best footballer in the world.
He has natural ability coupled with hard work. He is a tremendous example of where hard work can take you.
When we were at Manchester United he said he wanted to go on to be the best player in the world. He had the self-belief to get to the very top. I look at Chelsea's Eden Hazard sometimes and wonder if he has that.
Ronaldo was signed by Alex Ferguson in 2003 after he famously starred while playing for Sporting Lisbon in a friendly against Man Utd. Neville said the majority of the Man Utd dressing room believed the club should sign him after that game.
As an example of the dedication which Ronaldo showed when he arrived at Old Trafford, Neville told of how the young player would practice his tricks every day after training.
United's Carrington training ground is maybe a mile, two miles around. Every single day he used to take a ball after training and run and do his tricks for a mile, two miles at a time. His drive and his ability to practise every single day is just phenomenal.
When he gets back to his house after the match against Atletico, he will have an ice bath, eat the right things at the right time to refuel his body, stretch - and he will have a masseur there. His professionalism, drive and desire are amazing.
