All eyes on Ronaldo as slump continues
madrid — The Spanish league is off to a tight race atop the standings, with five teams separated by only three points. Yet, most of the talk entering the weekend is about whether Cristiano Ronaldo will end his scoring slump.
Real Madrid leads the league ahead of its match at Alaves on Saturday, but not thanks to Ronaldo’s recent performances. The forward is enduring his worst start to a season since joining Madrid in 2009, having scored only four goals in nine matches.
“When you’re used to scoring almost 70 goals a season, it’s almost like an addiction for goals,” Madrid reserve forward Alvaro Morata said. “For us, he is the most important player in the team and I hope that he scores lots of goals, but he is not a machine. He is a human being. Even if he comes from another planet and is different, he also has the right to miss.”
Ronaldo also scored five goals in two games with Portugal, against
— A much-weakened Real Madrid went goal crazy in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, smashing third-division minnows Cultural Leonesa 7-1 away from home in the first leg of their last-32 encounter.
Marco Asensio and Alvaro Morata each struck twice in a one-sided match, but Spanish international Morata should have had at least a hat-trick as Real ran riot, ensuring the return leg at the Andorra and the Faeroe Islands in World Cup qualifying, but that’s no reprieve to the demanding Madrid fans. He was jeered by the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium after another disappointing performance in a 2-1 win against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
“The fans demand a lot of players,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “The Bernabeu is special Santiago Bernabeu is effectively a dead rubber. Real Madrid’s forgotten man Fabio Coentrao made his return following seven months out injured on a routine evening for the Champions League winners. “I’m very pleased with the match. We started strongly and took the game seriously. That’s the most important thing for me, taking it seriously and respecting the opponent,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane. — and we know it. Cristiano knows it and he is used to it. The important thing is to continue with our work.” Ronaldo has scored only two goals in the Spanish league — in a 5-2 win against Osasuna in September and a 6-1 rout at Real Betis two weeks ago. He also scored two goals in the Champions League, one in a 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund and one in a 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon, when his free-kick goal started a late rally.
“Of course he wants to score more,” Madrid defender Marcelo said. “He is a player who helps a lot and not only with goals, also with his work on the pitch.”
The game against Osasuna was the first of the season for Ronaldo. He hadn’t played since injuring his left knee in the final of the European Championship, which Portugal won. Ronaldo seems fit and has had plenty of scoring chances, but has not been able to capitalize on them — including on some he usually converts. Zidane says he is not worried and that it’s just a matter of time before he starts finding the net again.
The 31-year-old was among the Madrid players rested in the team’s 7-1 win over Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday. He is set to return to the lineup on Saturday, when Zidane’s team tries to defend its Spanish league lead against promoted Alaves. —