Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane had a few words of warning for striker, Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese international failed to complete 90 minutes of a BBVA Primera Liga game for the first time this season on Wednesday night.
Ronaldo, who had played every minute of every game, no matter the circumstances left the pitch at the end of Madrid’s 3-0 win over Villarreal holding his hamstring.
The injury comes just a week ahead of his side’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Manchester City and with Real Madrid also battling for the BBVA Primera Liga title with four matches left to play.
Speaking after the game, Zidane said that although he still didn’t know the extent of the injury, he was “calmer now than when he (Ronaldo) left the field… I was worried and I wanted to know what had happened,” he admitted.
However, the incident allowed the coach to send a warning to the player that there was no need for him to play every minute.
“Now and then he needs to be taken off and to rest. It is important for him now and then to not finish a game or not to play a game.”
“He is a player who wants to play all of the time and to give everything and that is difficult for me, but we will see what happens,” he commented.
Zidane also said that Gareth Bale, who missed Wednesday’ s game through an injury possibly aggravated by playing 36 holes of golf last Sunday, should be available for Saturday’s short trip to face Rayo Vallecano.