Cristiano Ronaldo calms Real Madrid frenzy over European Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo's official presentation as a Real Madrid player may have sold out the Bernabeu and his arrival triggered a rush on the club shop, as fans greeted the man portrayed as their salvation, but the Portuguese on Tuesday cautioned supporters that he cannot take the side back to the summit of European football on his own.

• Florentino Perez’s accumulation of the crown jewels of European football – he has now plucked the brightest talents from Italy, England and France, while Franck Ribery, remains a target – has only heightened the anticipation in the Spanish capital for an assault on la decima, the elusive 10th European Cup.
• Much of the burden of achieving that feat – an obsession in Madrid since 2002 – will fall on the shoulders of the world’s most expensive, best-paid player, a responsibility Ronaldo described as “an honour”.
• However he has made it clear he should not bear any more pressure than any of his team-mates, as Real look to dislodge fierce rivals Barcelona.
• He said: “I won’t be playing on my own. I will be among my team-mates. I will be part of a team. This is a special club, and I have the conviction and confidence we can be the best.
• “Barcelona are a good team, but this club is more special, in my opinion, at least. The treble, as they achieved last season, is a great dream, but I would be happy with the league and the Champions League. But we will win nothing without hard work.”
• Explaining that to the 85,000 fans in the Bernabeu on Monday night, the 10,000 locked out and the estimated 1.6 million watching live on television, will be easier said than done.
• In the two hours before the end of his unveiling and the club shop closing for the night, Madrid sold some 3,000 replica shirts bearing his name and new No 9.
• By midday on Monday, they had sold out again. Conservative estimates would suggest Ronaldo still needs to sell another 1.7 million shirts, at £45-a-time to repay his transfer fee, but at the current rate of progress, it seems Perez’s dream, of a self-financing transfer, may yet come to fruition. That Ronaldo wanted, and was refused, Raul’s hallowed No 7 shirt appears immaterial.
• As Ronaldo gets used to life as part of the Real Madrid circus his former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is busy rebuilding Manchester United.
• The Scot has already added Luis Antonio Valencia, for £16 million, to his squad, and secured Michael Owen on a free transfer, and on Tuesday night he was close to completing a £3 million deal for French Under-21 Gabriel Obertan. The 20 year-old can play on either flank or as a striker.
• The club have also been boosted by goalkeeper Ben Foster signing a four-year contract extension.