Despite his lack of goals and criticism from sections of the Real Madrid support, Cristiano Ronaldo still has the full backing of coach Zinedine Zidane.
The 31-year-old has scored a surprisingly low four goals in all competitions this season and has just one in his last three LaLiga games.
However, Zidane has urged him to ignore the boo boys, given that even he has been the subject of whistles during his own playing days at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu."I don't understand the jeers for Ronaldo but at the same time, I look at it and note that it even happened to me," explained Zidane when speaking to the assembled media.
"The fans here demand a lot from the players and the Bernabeu is a special place to play football. He knows that and doesn't care if there are occasional boos. The important thing is to continue fighting.
"He always prefers to score two or three goals in a game but I'm not worried because I know that it will happen for him soon. He isn't making the most of his chances at the moment but with composure, he will soon hit the back of the net."The Frenchman's full focus is on their upcoming Copa del Rey tie against Cultural Leonesa on Wednesday night and he isn't taking their lower league opposition lightly.
"I'm very excited about it, both myself and the players know the importance of this competition and we want to win it," Zidane continued. "We will give our all to do that.
"There will be rotations for the game and everyone who is called up to play tomorrow will be ready. [Fabio] Coentrao is back and he will be important, Kiko [Casilla] will play in the Copa too. Everyone is fully focused on the game."Just two LaLiga goals and assists have come the winger's way in 2016/17, along with the same amount in the Champions League, in a total of nine appearances since returning from a knee injury that wiped out his pre-season.
However, it's Ronaldo's unwilting commitment and determination that has inspired the backing of his teammates and club president, Florentino Perez, as seen throughout the weekend game against Athletic Club.Perhaps it is the attacker's decision making that is letting him down, in particular on Sunday night, with the 2-1 win seeing him rain down 11 shots at the visiting goal, contributing to his statistic of having the most shots-per-game average of the entire division.
That said, Athletic were only the third team to prevent Ronaldo from claiming a goal or assist in the entire season so far, joining Villarreal and Las Palmas in forcing disappointing displays from the Madrid talisman.
With 14 different scorers already at this stage of the campaign, Los Blancos can afford to give Ronaldo time as they spread the load across the squad, but it may require a little more than hard graft if the winger is to reignite his best form across the long season ahead.
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