Barcelona VP calls out Cristiano Ronaldo for teammate criticism

Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Pepe all missed out, while Karim Benzema was forced off with a hip injury late on, and speaking after the game Ronaldo said: “If we were all at my level, maybe we would be leaders“.

That result, combined with Barca’s 2-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday, leaves Madrid in third place, 12 points adrift of Luis Enrique’s leaders. We still have the Champions League and we are hoping to play well in that’.

Following Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of derby rivals Atletico Madrid over the weekend, thus effectively handing the La Liga title to Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo has thrown the rattle from the cot in true prima donna fashion. But to win the league you need your best players.

The Portugal captain also suggested that the likes of Lucas Vazquez, Mateo Kovacic and Jese Rodriguez do not have enough quality to play for the capital club.

“Anyone who wants to can follow that advice, but I’d appreciate it if everyone respected the Atletico players the way we respect Guti and the Real Madrid players”. “I’m not saying that those who played are not as good but the best are always important in a team”.

“The fans are unhappy and we too”, he added after shouts from the home crowd demanding club president Florentino Perez’s resignation.

He said: “I like to play with Bale and when he is not there it is hard”. Zinedine Zidane had scheduled training for 11am following a day off, and in the meantime plenty had been said since match official Clos Gomez blew for full time at the Bernabeu.

“When I spoke, I was referring to my physical level, not as a player”, he told Radio Marca.

Atletico’s title bid has been hampered by a lack of goals in recent games, but Antoine Griezmann ended a five-game drought to slot home his 20th of the season early in the second half. “We had more opportunities [against Atletico] but we must carry on”. “He expressed himself badly but I know him well, I don’t know whether today or tomorrow, he’ll come out to explain what he really meant to say”.

“We had more chances than Atletico and we deserved to win”.