Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has jumped to the defence of his teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and has claimed that Ronaldo cannot play every game during the course of a season. A lot was said and written after Ronaldo was substituted by Zinedine Zidane last weekend against Las Palmas and the way Ronaldo reacted to the being substituted.
The Portuguese star was visibly disgusted and did not see eye to eye with Zidane on the touchline. However, Marca came up with a story soon after claiming that Ronaldo was more upset at the home supporters in the way they whistled and disrespected him on his way out.
Before any of it could reach the boiling point, Ronaldo put every doubt to bed after scoring in Madrid’s 2-2 draw against Borussia Dortmund last night. Unlike his previous matches ,Ronaldo looked evidently sharper and ready for the match.
Touching on the point of Ronaldo’s longevity and what he brings to the side, Kroos stressed that it will be physically impossible for Ronaldo to play every minute of the season. Real often go to play 60 matches in a season and it will demand a lot of Ronaldo to play each and every game. There will come a time when his body needs rest and Zidane is the man to look after that.
At 31, Ronaldo is not getting younger and his game time on the pitch needs to be carefully monitored by Real Madrid coaching staff.
Explaining his stance, Kroos said: "The stories are bigger than what they really are. It's impossible for any player to play up to 60 games per season.
"It's the coach [Zinedine Zidane] who will decide if he will play the full game or be substituted on 75 mins.
"Ronaldo trained with the team completely normally, as well as before and after the last game.
What next for Real Madrid and Ronaldo?
Despite their 2-2 draw against Las Palmas, Los Blancos are top of the La Liga table with 14 points from their first six games while Barcelona are at 2nd position with 13 points. Real Madrid’s next game is against Eibar and Zidane will be hopeful of all three points once again.
As for the Champions League, Madrid are confident of qualifying from the group stage and will once look to go all the way in the competition. Real Madrid will go into the season hoping to become the first team to win back to back Champions League titles.
As for Ronaldo, he is still looking to get over the sluggish start to the season following his Euro 2016 success and the injury he carried from the competition. He is also negotiating a long-term deal with the Madrid giants where he is aiming to finish his career at Santiago Bernabeu.
