Cristiano Ronaldo has played at many stadiums all over the world throughout his long career, but one Premier League stadium stands out above them all.

According to former Real Madrid teammate, Alvaro Arbeloa, ahead of Los Blancos' UEFA Champions League clash against Liverpool at Anfield all the way back in 2014, Ronaldo told his teammates that it was the most intimidating Premier League stadium he had ever visited.

Of course, he had a prior history of playing there when he was suiting up for their long-time rivals, Manchester United, in both various league campaigns, as well as an FA Cup meeting between the two sides in 2006.

Ronaldo Names Anfield as Most Intimidating Away Stadium

Throughout his career, Ronaldo has played in front of some of the most raucous crowds in European football, which is to be expected, having played regularly at Old Trafford, the Santiago Bernabeu, and the Allianz Stadium in Turin when he played for Italian giants, Juventus.

But when it comes to away grounds, little has compared to that of Anfield - home of Liverpool football club, according to former Madrid teammate, Arbeloa. When addressing the media ahead of their clash at Anfield in the 2014/15 Champions League group stages, the former Liverpool defender detailed, via UEFA, how Ronaldo had told the rest of his team what to expect when playing against The Kop.

"Even Cristiano Ronaldo has mentioned that this is the most difficult away ground he knew in his time playing in the Premier League."

Arbeloa then went on to discuss his own experiences playing at Anfield, having spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Merseyside club between 2007-09. There, he made 98 appearances across all competitions for the Reds, scoring twice and assisting six goals, before returning to his boyhood club for a £5 million transfer fee.

Despite making almost a century of appearances for the club, he hailed the experience of playing at Anfield as a 'once in a lifetime' one, struggling to find the words to describe the experience.

"It's tough to put into words. It is something you have to experience for yourself. These massive nights in the Champions League, even league games during the day, are special occasions, and you only have to listen to that special sound of You'll Never Walk Alone before the game. I would almost put it into words that it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As a player, it is a special environment, it's a special stadium, and you need to experience that at least once in your career."

This match would also be the final time that Arbeloa would play at Anfield, with him ruled out with a leg injury when he was then part of a West Ham United squad that travelled up north from London in the 2016/17 season.

Ronaldo's Record at Anfield

The Portuguese winger played for both Man United and Real Madrid

Unlike many of his Real Madrid teammates, Ronaldo had the upper hand on what to expect when his side faced Liverpool at Anfield in the Group B clash of the Champions League in the 2014/15 season. This was due to him having been part of the fierce - and historic - rivalry between the two sides when playing for Man United, and he used that prior experience to his advantage.

That fixture saw the Reds defeated 3-0 on their home turf, with Ronaldo scoring the opener in the 23rd minute, with his strike partner Karim Benzema netting a brace to seal all three points before the half-time whistle sounded. This would be the Portuguese superstar's final-ever goal at Anfield.

Prior to this particular fixture, Ronaldo had travelled to Anfield six times out of a possible eight, missing the trip in the 2008/09 season due to having had ankle surgery, while he was unavailable for the match in 2022 due to being on special leave.

Despite having scored over 900 career goals in his career, only three of them came against Liverpool, and only the one for Madrid in 2014/15 was scored at Anfield. Perhaps the atmosphere really was that intimidating, to the point where one of the greatest players in world football history struggled to perform at his glistening best.

Nonetheless, in his team's 14 total fixtures, they came out victorious on nine occasions, and drawing one other, never losing at Anfield in league matches in which he featured. The one time the two sides met in the FA Cup, though, Liverpool triumphed at home with a 1-0 victory in 2006 - the year they went on to win the cup in a thriller decided on penalties.