Kolarov: bring on Ronaldo

Aleksandar Kolarov is relishing the prospect of facing Cristiano Ronaldo after dealing with the threat of another wing wonder in Gareth Bale.

Manchester City full-back Kolarov was part of the Serbia side that hammered Bale's Wales 6-1 in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Novi Sad. Wales boss Chris Coleman had warned Kolarov to expect a tough examination against Bale. But the City defender had the last laugh as he opened the scoring with a free-kick and played a part in the home side's second and third goals as the Dragons were vanquished emphatically. The Premier League champions meet Stoke at the weekend but then face the daunting task of travelling to the Bernabeu to face Real Madrid in their opening Champions League Group D clash and Kolarov, 26, knows just how crucial stopping Ronaldo, who has come in for criticism after claiming he is "sad" at Real, will be if City are to get a result in Spain. "I knew about Bale from the Premier League, I've played against him before and I know how good he is but we kept him quiet," he said. "He scored a great free-kick but apart from that we did not have many problems. "Ronaldo is something different. Everyone knows about him, there's nothing much more that you can say about him. He's a special player - with Messi he is the best player in the world. So to play against someone like that will be a big test. He played for Man United too so he will want to score against us."