Jose Mourinho has hailed Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo as being as influential for his national team as Zinedine Zidane once was for France.
Mourinho, who coached Ronaldo at Real Madrid, told French television channel TF1 that "there will not be another like him."
"He is like Zidane for the French," he said. "He is an incredible player, a goal machine. I don't need to say what everyone already knows."
Last year, Mourinho had suggested that Ronaldo no longer listens to tactical instructions because he thinks he has nothing left to learn.
The relationship between the pair apparently cooled after Ronaldo reacted angrily to criticism from the bench during a Copa del Rey win over Valencia in January.
And Chelsea manager Mourinho also told Portuguese channel TVI, in comments reported by AS, that he and Ronaldo had "no relationship" following his departure from Spain.
"He plays for Real Madrid and I am Chelsea manager. We do not tend to meet in the street," he said. "There is no relationship, but there are memories. I remember the good times and the bad times.
"I must remember a kid who is a goalscoring machine, who helped me to be champion, to win the Copa and the Supercopa.
"Probably I also helped him -- we all helped each other, mutually, to win the title with 100 points against the best Barcelona team in history."
In his interview with TF1, Mourinho also cooled speculation that Madrid centre-back Raphael Varane could join him in London.
He said: "Everyone says that he will go to Chelsea because they know that I really like him. However, everyone also knows that he will stay at Madrid."