Manchester United talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was a surprise omission from the list of the toughest opponents Wayne Bridge faced in his career. Portuguese international Ronaldo was an obvious absentee after Wayne Bridge was asked to name his toughest opponents earlier this season.
In a chat with Betting Expert, Wayne Bridge mentioned compatriots Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kieron Dyer and Joe Cole as his toughest opponents in addition to Manchester City star RiyadMahrez. He mentioned those five players as his toughest opponents.
Only Mahrez and Lennon are still active footballers from the list of the five players mentioned. Dyer, Cole and Wright-Phillips have all retired from professional football. Lennon returned to English football to sign for Burnley as a free agent last summer after a spell in Turkey in the colours of Super League team Kayserispor. For Mahrez, the Algerian star has been part of the Manchester City team that has won the Premier League title in three of the last four seasons and a fourth title in five seasons could be on the horizon if the Citizens can hold off rivals Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table this season. It must also be pointed out that Mahrez is the leading goalscorer at Manchester City this season. The Algerian was the leading goalscorer for Manchester City in the Champions League last season as they reached the final before they were beaten by fellow Premier League team Chelsea in the final.
Bridge spent a lot of his football career at Chelsea and Manchester City. He came up against Ronaldo on numerous occasions when the Portuguese player was in his first spell at Manchester United, but it was not enough for him to include the former Juventus and Real Madrid superstar in his five-man list of tough opponents.