Man City must not be 'hypnotised' by Ronaldo: Henry

French football great Thierry Henry has warned Manchester City of being "hypnotised" by Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, advising them to focus on the entire opponent team having "far too much quality in every position".

English club Manchester City will be hosting the Spanish giants next Tuesday at their home ground Etihad Stadium in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.

"Manchester City can do everything in their power to make sure Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't get an inch in the Champions League semi-final. But if he suddenly decides to smash one into the top corner from 40 yards, there is nothing any defender can do about it except to say well done," Henry wrote in his column in The Sun on Sunday.

Henry, former player of Arsenal and FC Barcelona, added, "Because that is what Ronaldo is always capable of - and a reason why he has scored an incredible 360 goals in seven seasons for Real Madrid."

"City can't afford to be hypnotised by one guy when the two sides clash on Tuesday. Madrid have far too much quality in every position," the Frenchman explained.

On the other hand, Henry hailed Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema and underlined that "there is no doubt that Ronaldo is a better player when he is alongside Karim Benzema, who provides Madrid with the perfect attacking balance along with Gareth Bale."

Speaking of the effect of French coach Zinedine Zidane on Real Madrid, Henry said, "The whole team has gone up a level since Zinedine Zidane replaced Rafa Benitez as coach in January and Real are a much scarier proposition now."

--IANS

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