Cristiano Ronaldo blew Gonzalo Higuain away in sprinting drill for Juventus in 2019

Cristiano Ronaldo is a physical specimen.

Even at 37 years old, the Manchester United star remains one of the most chiselled and ripped footballers in the men’s game with evergreen strength and agility to go with it.

It’s one thing to look like a Greek god who’s been chiselled out of granite and another thing to curate that stunning physique into the tool kit required to become one of the world’s finest athletes.

Besides, whether it’s leaping in the air like an NBA star or brushing off defenders like they weren’t even there, Ronaldo has countless physical attributes to go with his technical ability on the ball.

However, one physical trait of Ronaldo’s that often gets overlooked is his pace.

Now that the Portuguese superstar is closer to his 40th birthday than his 30th, the inevitability of ageing has set in and he’s not as nippy on his feet as he was during his prime at Real Madrid.

But when the standard from which you’re falling just happened to be one of the fastest players of a generation, then it doesn’t exactly mean that you’re suddenly a slow and doddery old man.

On the contrary, Ronaldo has proven many times in recent years that even running with 80% of the pace that he displayed at the Bernabeu is enough to leave countless top-class players eating his dust.

In fact, the five-time Ballon d’Or would sometimes give his own teammates a masterclass in sprinting. Just ask Gonzalo Higuain.

Back in the summer of 2019, the Juventus squad were partaking in a drill that involved sprinting towards a coach, before showing their ability to change direction by dropping a shoulder and going off the side.

And one particular clip that emerged from the session showed quite the difference between Higuain and Ronaldo when it came to