Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane defends decision to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo in Atletico Madrid derby draw

Zidane and Ronaldo shake hands after the forward's derby withdrawal
AFP/Getty Images
Tom Doyle9 April 2018

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane defended substituting Cristiano Ronaldo early during Sunday's derby draw against Atletico Madrid by insisting his ageing star needs rest.

Ronaldo opened the scoring at the Bernabeu with a volley to keep his remarkable 2018 goalscoring run going strong.

The Portugal talisman has now scored in each of his last 10 games, and has netted 20 times in total during yet another hot streak in front of goal.

Unfortunately for Real, Antoine Griezmann struck just four minutes later, and Ronaldo was a surprise withdrawal in the 64th minute as the derby went on to end in a 1-1 draw.

Real welcome Serie A leaders Juventus to the Bernabeu on Wednesday night carrying a 3-0 first-leg lead in their Champions League quarter-final.

Despite their advantage, Zidane's insistence that the tie is not yet over - coupled with Real's slim La Liga title hopes - may have contributed to the coach's decision to take off 33-year-old Ronaldo.

"We've got a lot of games and from time to time, [Ronaldo] has to rest and that's it," Zidane told reporters. "He's clever and there are times when you have to rest.

"Nowadays he needs it and every time it does him good, you can see."

In Pictures | Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid derby | 08/04/2018

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As for winning a third straight Champions League trophy, Zidane dismissed suggestions his team are favourites: "I'm not interested in any of that. We have to think about Wednesday's game and do everything possible to get through.

"I'm not bothered about the past, just Wednesday night. We have to be driven, focused, not thinking about other things.

"Everyone is under some kind of illusion that we're already in the semi-finals, and we mustn't think like that. On Wednesday, we are going to be put to the sword and we need to get through it.

"We'll try our best, we've gone through the whole season to get to this point."

AFP/Getty Images

The derby draw leaves Real languishing 15 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona with seven games to go, while Atletico maintained their four-point advantage over their city rivals as Real slipped to fourth in the table.

Despite Real's league position, Zidane said: "I'm happy with the match and how we performed because we clearly deserved more. It was a shame we didn't get more from it, but we could have even lost the game at the end.

"In the first half, we created chances, but we didn't score. Then in the second, we got the goal, but they made it difficult for us for 10 minutes after the goal and they levelled things up.

"We had a lot of chances and we did enough to win, but we didn't get over the line. It's a shame that we didn't get the three points."

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