Cristiano Ronaldo has slammed critics who insist he is carrying a knee injury following Real Madrid's Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti was last week forced to deny that the winger was suffering from a recurrence of a past knock, a claim corroborated by the player himself, who also felt expectations for him to continually perform at his very best were unrealistic.
“Not all goals are everything. I'll apologise if you tell me a player who is always at his best. I'm not from another planet,” he said after last night's 2-2 draw in the second leg of Madrid's last-16 tie.
“Maybe I'm not in perfect condition [at the moment], but I will be. The knee [problem] is in the past, I'm used to playing through pain. In two or three weeks, the team will be fine, too.
“The Ballon d'Or doesn't affect me. I always love helping Madrid. We're still first in La Liga and alive in the Champions League. I hope that in two weeks, we're back to how we were before Christmas.”
The Portuguese then reflected on his side's performance in the return match at the Santiago Bernabeu and admitted they could have done more in the second half.
“We knew they had an advantage, so the game was difficult,” he added. “We conceded a goal in the first minute. We knew it could happen. It was disappointing to lose like that.
“I'm delighted with our play in the first half. We did our best to put up a fight and had very bad luck to concede two goals so quickly.
“Atletico don't play attractive football, but they're very defensive. They always wait for set-pieces but do well. We must respect their players and Coach.
“On behalf of the team, I can only apologise to the fans because we could've done better in the second half. I appreciate the support I received from them and the tribute they gave me.
“Atletico are a consistent team who have been together for a long time. Valencia are improving and will be a force to be reckoned with.
“Our main rivals are Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, who are challenging on all fronts. This is good for the League.
“The cup hasn't lost any value, but the League and Champions League are more important. We want to win, but we can take positives from our defeats.
“It'll help us focus. Sometimes it's better to step back and then take two steps forward.”
