Zidane attempts to draw a line under Ronaldo post-Atletico criticism

Andy West 10:48 02/03/2016
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  • Kicking up a storm: Cristiano Ronaldo has four goals in his last five games.

    Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists Cristiano Ronaldo’s stunning outburst against his own team-mates has been dealt with and is not an issue within the squad.

    Ronaldo reacting to Saturday’s tame 1-0 derby defeat to Atletico Madrid by launching into a tirade against his colleagues, claiming Madrid would be topping the table if everyone was at his level and specifying several players as not good enough.

    Although the Portuguese later backtracked and claimed that he was referring to the club’s ongoing injury problems, there can be no doubting the sentiments behind his original comments and the fall-out has overshadowed preparations for Wednesday’s trip to rock-bottom Levante.

    Zidane claimed that the matter has been consigned to history, but his emphasis on the need for internal unity invited the conclusion that he was far from happy with the show of dissent.

    “It’s in the past,” he said. “The matter has been fixed. We know Ronaldo’s importance and we are all with him. He has spoken to me and with everyone.

    “The most important thing is what lies ahead, and we will achieve this with everyone being together, and from the inside, not externally.”

    The French coach also admitted he has addressed the squad to seek improvements in the wake of Saturday’s loss, although he claimed it was a routine discussion rather than the crisis talks which have been described in the Spanish press.

    “A coach should talk with his players after the game,” he added. “With all of them and later individually. We didn’t want to lose the derby, but it’s in the past now.

    “We lost a game against a team which played better than us, and we will analyse it together to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

    But Zidane was evasive on the question of his own future, amid speculation that Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde is already being lined up to replace him in the summer.

    When asked whether he expects to still be in charge next season, he responded: “The important thing is day to day, and I am very happy, working hard and improving.

    “When I took over everything was great and now, after losing one game, everything is black. I’m just worried about working with my group and moving forward. Everything else doesn’t bother me. You never know what can happen in three months.”

    Despite Pepe making a timely return from injury, Zidane’s list of unavailable players has lengthened further, with the coach confirming that Luka Modric has been ruled out with a foot injury, while Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal are suspended.

    That trio joins Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Karim Benzema on the sidelines, forcing Zidane into selecting youngsters Alvaro Tejero, Martin Odegaard, Marcos Llorente and Borja Mayoral.

    Zidane admitted he is considering giving Mayoral his first start in attack to replace Benzema.

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