Cristiano Ronaldo ready for challenge at Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to lead Real Madrid back to the top of the soccer world. He’s relishing the chance to prove he can do just that.

“Life is a challenge, and I’m a challenge man,” Ronaldo said Thursday at Madrid’s preseason training camp near Dublin.

The Portugal winger moved to Madrid from Manchester United for a record $131 million transfer fee. Along with Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol, Ronaldo said he and his teammates have a job to do when the Spanish season starts next month.

“The new players have to show they have been brought in for a reason,” Ronaldo said. “We have to win the league.”

Last year, Barcelona won the league title, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, becoming the first Spanish team to win all three in one season. The Catalan club also beat its archrival 6-2 late in the season to all but seal the La Liga title.

Ronaldo, who won the Champions League with Manchester United but lost to Barcelona in last season’s European Cup final, is hoping his new team can pull off the same triple.

“You need sometimes a little bit of luck, but I believe we have a good team, a good coach. Why not?” Ronaldo said of the nine-time European Cup champions. “We have to be thinking like that to win.”

Ronaldo’s first match with Madrid is likely to be on Monday when the team plays a friendly against Shamrock Rovers. He said coach Manuel Pellegrini hadn’t told him yet whether he will play at Rovers in a stadium where special stands have been erected to accommodate the more than 10,000 fans expected to attend.

Ronaldo dismissed reports that the new wave of “galacticos” at Madrid was causing friction with the star players already there.

“All of us have to concentrate together to win championships,” Ronaldo said. “I’m the same as all the others, and together I think we can achieve that.”