ZIDANE DECLARES RONALDO FIT FOR CLASICO

Cristiano Ronaldo has been declared fit to play in Real Madrid’s El Clasico clash with Barcelona on Saturday after overcoming a calf problem. Ronaldo sustained the injury during the Club World Cup final victory over Gremio and had trained alone as a “precaution”, with the club insisting the 2017 Ballon d’Or winner would be fit for Barca’s visit.

He was then pictured training alongside the rest of his teammates as normal on Friday and coach Zinedine Zidane confirmed in his prematch news conference that Ronaldo is fine and will feature. Zidane said: “He is fine, he’s 100 per cent. He has trained today and that’s what interests me. I’m not going to get sidetracked into other things.

“The only important thing is the game and that’s all Cristiano has to think about on Saturday. What Cristiano has done and doing at this club, he deserves all the respect he gets.”

Gareth Bale is another Madrid star who has suffered with injuries of late. Croatia should consider themselves blessed to have Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric in their midfield. Rakitic looked close to leaving under Luis Enrique but has re-established himself in the Barca XI, while there has been no better central midfielder than Modric anywhere in the world over last 18 months. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goalscoring form has practically deserted him in La Liga this season, while Barca have become ever more dependent on their talisman, Messi. It is difficult to imagine how this Valverde vintage of Barca would operate without the Argentinian. If Ronaldo’s calf complaint flares up again, it will be disaster for Madrid.

MADRID: