What’s the story
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane spoke to the press after his side’s comfortable thrashing of Granada in Saturday afternoon’s La Liga fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu and spoke about how Cristiano Ronaldo should have won more Ballon d’Ors.
As per Spanish publication AS, after commending his players for their sustained effort throughout the game, Zidane, commenting on Cristiano Ronaldo’s four Ballon d’Or win said, “Maybe he deserves even more than four. When all of this is over, we'll realise that what he has done is amazing. I'm happy for him because he deserves it.”.
In case you didn’t know...
The Portuguese won his fourth Ballon d’Or in 2016 as he helped Real Madrid to their 11th Champions League title. He also captained his national side in France as Portugal defeated the hosts in the final of the European Championships to lay hands on their first ever major international title.
In 2016, Ronaldo scored a ridiculous 55 goals for club and country leading them to major honours.
The heart of the matter
The Real Madrid manager’s comments were with reference to a pre-match event featuring former Galactico Ballon d’Or winners Luis Figo, Michael Owen, and Ronaldo. The Frenchman revealed that the event had been a “strange” one as Ronaldo has won trophy more times than any of the retired players, who had only one or two wins in their kitty.
Real Madrid, with 40 points are four points clear of Sevilla in second and more importantly five points ahead of Barcelona who are in third. The Los Blancos have also equalled Barcelona’s record of having gone 39 games unbeaten in the La Liga with their phenomenal run stretching back to April 2016.
What next
The 31-year-old is likely to feature for Real Madrid in their Copa del Rey fixture against Sevilla on Friday. The Los Blancos will be looking to Ronaldo to perform at his usual high standards as they seek to continue their unbeaten run and Ronaldo, his quest for yet another Ballon d’Or.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Zidane’s comments are likely to outrage staunch Lionel Messi fans across the world and only fuel the ever going debate on who the better half of the pair actually is.
