Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘angry’ reaction to being substituted by Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane against Las Palmas was played down by the Frenchman, as he claimed that it was made with a view to resting him ahead of the UEFA Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund, and not for an apparent ‘poor’ performance on the pitch.
Real Madrid were leading 2-1 with 20 minutes to go when Zidane decided to take Ronaldo off, but the decision came back to haunt Zidane, as former Barcelona B striker Sergio Araujo grabbed a late equaliser for Las Palmas, as Ronaldo looked incensed on the bench, minutes after a frosty reaction to being taken off, not making eye-contact as he shook hands with Zidane.
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Speaking to reporters after the game, Zidane explained his reasoning to replace Ronaldo with Lucas Vazquez, saying “It was not that (Ronaldo) was playing badly. We are playing on Tuesday and Cristiano must rest too sometimes. It was just for that. He was playing well. Tonight I took him off thinking of Tuesday's game.”
When asked about Ronaldo’s ‘angry’ reaction, Zidane denied that was the case, saying “Angry? That would be your interpretation. He always wants to be on the pitch. We have to take him out sometimes, and we did today. It does not change anything.”
Real Madrid’s blip should greatly concern Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane wasn’t impressed with his side’s performance when they drew their previous game against Villarreal, but refused to be as critical this time, saying “We had many chances in the first half tonight, also in the second. I do not believe we lacked hunger -- just the opposite. We started well, pressing high, we did what we had prepared.”
“The second goal was not just one player's mistake, it was a bit of everything. The team are working well, are committed to what we are doing. In football you cannot always win, but we are on the right path and we have a game on Tuesday which is coming up soon.”
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Despite two consecutive draws, Real Madrid are top of La Liga with 14 points, while Barcelona clawed back the gap to one point with a 5-0 win over Sporting Gijon. Los Blancos face Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League next, with Ronaldo likely to feature.
