Rakitic: I was ahead of Ronaldo with Barça, I hope for the same at Euro 2016

Ivan Rakitic claimed that Euro 2016 opponents Portugal will need more than Cristiano Ronaldo if they're to beat Croatia on Saturday.

The 28-year-old believes the Vatreni can win their round of 16 encounter against Fernando Santos' team, especially if Croatia can repeat their impressive performance from their 2-1 victory over Spain in the group stages.

"The plan is to repeat the game we played against Spain," Rakitic told newspaper Blic, "We must provide maximum effort, enter the game with 100 per cent motivation and die for every ball.

"Cristiano Ronaldo cannot win without the rest of the [Portugal] team. I was ahead of him and Real Madrid with Barça, I hope for the same outcome at the European Championship.

"We don't think about the trophy, but go step-by-step and I think we're powerful enough to eliminate Portugal."

The former Sevilla midfielder also revealed that his best friends at Barça are Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, jokingly adding: "But that doesn't stop me from beating them [with Croatia]."