Zidane sweating over Ronaldo fitness

Zinedine Zidane admits he is in the dark over Cristiano Ronaldo’s potential injury after Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Villarreal on Wednesday.

Goals from Karim Benzema, Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric fired Madrid to an eighth straight win and kept them a point off the summit in La Liga, but their performance was marred by a late knock to Ronaldo, who substituted himself in the dying embers while holding one of his hamstrings.

“[Ronaldo] felt something right at the end, but I can’t confirm anything yet,” the Coach said after the game

“I think it was more a scare than something serious. [On Thursday], we’ll calmly see what exactly Cristiano has, but I’m calmer now [than in the match].

“We’re working well. The team were great from the first minute, recovered long balls and were almost perfect defensively. I’m very happy with the attitude of everyone.

“Nothing has changed since [Tuesday]. We’re still a point behind, but we’ll continue with our football and idea of what we’ve been doing.

“Cristiano does a lot of work for the team and is working very well for the team. He doesn’t only score goals.

“He’s one more defender for us and [on Wednesday] he was spectacular, along with the rest of the team.

“We were playing a team who are very good on the counterattack, but they had no chance.

“[Karim Benzema] is a very important player, but it’s true that he’s been doing phenomenally well for a few months now.

“He scores, assists, makes others play better and his work rate is enormous, but the work of everyone was huge, including those who came off the bench.

“Sometimes I regret not taking off Cristiano earlier [in games] so he doesn’t go through this. He needs [a rest] from time to time.

“For a Coach, when you have Cristiano, it’s necessary for him to sometimes not finish a game or not play, but he’s a player who always wants to play and gives his maximum.

“Sometimes, for me, like [on Wednesday], when he leaves the pitch, it’s difficult. We’ll see how he recovers.”

Tags Cristiano Ronaldo Zinedine Zidane
La Liga - Club News