Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has come under fire from Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre for the comments he made about his own team mates in the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat to neighbours Atletico de Madrid.
Shortly after Los Blancos slipped to a 1-0 loss that all but ended their hopes of winning the title, Ronaldo told reporters that Real would be top of the table if ‘my team mates were on the same level’.
His comments were seen as a barb to players such as Lucas Vasquez, Jese Rodriguez and Mateo Kovacic who all featured in the derby defeat. But Ronaldo later clarified his comments by saying that he did not mean to insult anyone but he was merely saying that any team missing the likes of Karim Benzema, Pepe, Gareth Bale and Marcelo would find it hard to compete and Los Blancos have been hit hard by injury this year.
Speaking after Los Cules had beaten Sevilla on Sunday to extend their lead at the top to eight points, and 12 over Real, Mestre said: “Our players would never make statements like Cristiano did. We always look at these sorts of things before signing players.”
He also said while Barcelona are in a good position, the league isn’t over yet.
“These are three more points, but the League isn’t won at the end of February. It’s not a cliché. It’s true because we can drop points and I’m sure that Real Madrid can capitalise. In this League, no-one gives you anything.”
