Zinedine Zidane reckons Ronaldo should give a deaf ear towards his critics and just keep playing and performing the way he has been for Real Madrid for a long time.

A large percentage of the Los Blancos fans want to see the departure of the talismanic Portuguese who has surely been one of the best in the club’s history.

And, even of late, he has not been that poor in terms of numbers. If you see the players with most number of goals either in the Spanish Premier Division or the Champions League in the ongoing season, it’s none other than Ronaldo who is leading the chart.

Zinedine Zidane has refused to give too much importance to what Cristiano Ronaldo said in his interview after the Madrid derby the previous weekend.

According to the coach, the striker has clarified himself by having a chat with the rest of the boys and everyone has decided to put it behind and go ahead.

Ronaldo was not in the greatest of moods after the defeat of the Los Blancos at the hands of the local rivals Atletico and he made some unpleasing comments about his teammates.

The Portuguese appeared to be suggesting that if all the players in the Madrid change room had been as good as he is, the team would have been topping the table right now.

However, later Ronaldo pointed out that his comments were taken in the wrong way and that he was only talking about the fitness and not the ability of the players as he doesn’t reckon he is any better in comparison to anyone else in the team.

Rafa Benitez refused to get carried away with all the talk about Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the weekend’s match against Villarreal.

The team has enjoyed a five match winning run in all competitions and it has put behind memories of the thrashing from Barcelona in the last El Clasico. However, it has done little to close down the gap in the league table. Madrid continue to trail Barcelona by four points with the season about to go into a winter break. It is imperative that the club at least maintain this difference and not drop any more points.

France national team manager Didier Deschamps reckons that the striker Karim Benzema is very important to the national team just as Cristiano Ronaldo is to Real Madrid.

Benzema is regarded as one of the finest strikers in world football, but France have not been able to capitalise on his presence. They have struggled for much of the time Benzema has led the line. This is in sharp contrast to the days of Thierry Henry when France used to be very successful. Of course, the success of a national team also depends on other players too, butDeschamps has once again spoken about the importance of the 27-year-old ahead of the international break.

Iker Casillas has once again refused to speak about the incidents that led to his downfall at Real Madrid in the last few years.

The Spanish international went from being untouchable in his position as the captain of the team to joining FC Porto after being left with no other choice. The odds of him leaving the Spanish giants after 25 years seemed simply unthinkable.

Casillas was once rated as one of the top goalkeepers in the world, but his form significantly deteriorated when he was dropped by Jose Mourinho. Several reasons have been put forth for this incident, but Casillas says that he will keep his silence since the Portuguese manager has also done the same.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi claims that he does not have a rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo as opposed to the widespread belief.

Both players have been sharing the world Player of the Year award for the last five seasons. Messi has been successful by one more title than Ronaldo, who is the reigning FIFA Ballon d’Or award holder. The intensity of the battle has especially grown since Ronaldo moved to the Spanish capital for £ 80 million from Manchester United. Ronaldo and Messi have been topping the goal scoring charts barring a few years and this domination is expected to continue in the near future.

Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane has surprisingly revealed that he likes Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard more than Real Madrid’s own Cristiano Ronaldo or Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo and Messi have widely been considered as the two best players in the planet. However,Hazard is fast developing into a real successor with his eye-catching performances for Chelsea. The Belgian winger is having his best season as a professional till date after having scored 18 goals and created 10 assists. Jose Mourinho last season placed a £ 100 million valuation on the 24-year-old, who considersZidane as his idol.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice during Real Madrid’s latest Champions League match as the Spanish club faced off against Schalke 04 in their 2nd leg and sustained a 3-4 defeat but the final aggregate score was 5-4 in favor of Real Madrid as the team of Carlo Ancelotti just barely managed to get into the quarter-final stages of the Champions League.

The Portuguese star of Real Madrid is now tied up with Lionel Messi as the top goal-scorers in the UEFA Champions League with each player managing to score 75 goals in the European competition. Lionel Messi and C.Ronaldo were both able to surpass the previous title holder Raul Gonzales who had a record of 71 goals in the Champions League.

Former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas says that people mistake Cristiano Ronaldo’s ambition has arrogance.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the top names in world football and he has been in impeccable form over the last six months. It has been a major reason towards Real Madrid setting a new record of 22 victories in succession in all competitions.

The forward is the top scorer in the la Liga by a considerable margin with 26 goals to his name. The next best scorer – his archrival Lionel Messi – only has 15 to his name. Despite this dominance, Messi is seen as being more popular because of his humility while Ronaldo is seen as arrogant.

Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso says that it would be hard to look past Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo for potential FIFA Ballon d’Or award winners this year. Both these superstars have once again made it to the shortlist for the coveted individual award. Other names on the shortlist include the likes of Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Even though the likes of Ronaldo and Messi have had great seasons individually, Alonso reckons that FIFA should also take a look at the team performances.Neuer has been for some time regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world.