Patience has paid off for Cristiano Ronaldo, says Zidane
Ronaldo, who had made his worst-ever goalscoring start to a season for the club, snapped his goalless streak with a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 4-1 win over Alavés.
Ronaldo snaps his goalless streak with a hat-trick
Zinedine Zidane says that patience has paid off after Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 4-2 win over Alavés on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to the win at Mendizorroza, Ronaldo had scored just four goals all season and only one of his side’s last 20. His goal drought, which had even led the crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu to whistle him during Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao last weekend, meant he made his worst-ever goalscoring start to a season since joining the club back in 2009.
“Cristiano is proving himself out on the pitch,” Zidane told reporters after the game. “”I’m very happy with his performance. He’s been patient and hopefully he can continue like that.”
Alavés made us work hard for the win, says Zidane
The big scoreline was perhaps, on balance of play, a little harsh on the hosts who made Real Madrid work hard for their win but Zidane says that that’s to be expected.
“Football is suffering,” he said. “You can’t win the league without suffering. The crowd put pressure on us, as did the opposition, but we kept a cool head. I don’t know if its an unfair scoreline but Alavés made things very difficult for us.”
“We won’t win the league just because we’re Real Madrid,” he added.
Pepe, another injury worry
One worrying sign on an otherwise good afternoon for the visitors was Pepe limping off in the first half with a reported hamstring injury.
“There’s nothing we can do,” said the coach. “They’ll run some tests back in Madrid but I can’t tell you how long he’ll be out for. Hopefully he’ll be back soon, like Modric and Sergio Ramos.”