Ronaldo rage in Madrid as goals dry up for Cristiano
The Portuguese reacted petulantly to Alvaro
Arbeloa's late strike and cut a frustrated figure as he was unable to
add to his tally in the 3-0 win over Almeria
Cristiano Ronaldo was not
a happy man. The Portuguese forward failed to hit the target in
Wednesday's win over Almeria and was visibly vexed by Alvaro Arbeloa's
late goal when he had been following up behind the defender for a simple
tap-in.
James Rodriguez gave Madrid the lead with a brilliant
volley just before half-time which was as good as any of the stunning
strikes netted by Barcelona in the Catalans' spectacular 6-0 success at
home to Getafe on Tuesday. But Madrid's football was a million miles
from the slick stuff seen at Camp Nou - and Ronaldo was clearly not
enjoying himself.
The Portuguese looked to have scored his goal
early in the second half, but Almeria's Mauro dos Santos was the last
man to touch the ball and Ronaldo waved his finger in the air to
indicate he had not been the scorer - even though his name was called
out over the loudspeaker system at the Santiago Bernabeu.
His
finishing was wayward after that and one fine run was followed by a wild
effort which flew well over the bar in the second half and was greeted
by groans from the Madrid fans. Those same supporters attempted to lift
their man after that with chants of "Cristiano Ronaldo" and "Balón de
Oro", but to no avail.
And the evening ended with Arbeloa's
strike - only the eighth of his entire career -, but instead of being
happy for his team-mate, Ronaldo smashed the ball back into the net with
anger and trudged to the centre circle shaking his head.
"I'm
not upset about Cristiano's reaction after my goal," the right-back said
in the mixed zone afterwards. "It just shows you his ambition to score.
No-one can be upset about that. He is fighting with Leo Messi for the
Pichichi."
Asked afterwards about Ronaldo's rage and his inability to channel
his fury at times on the pitch, coach Carlo Ancelotti said he was
pleased with the Portuguese.
"If Cristiano doesn't score, I'm
happy," he said. "He has already scored 50 goals this season, so I am
happy not only when he scores but also when he doesn't. He didn't score
today, but he can score on Saturday."
And he added: "Cristiano worked well. He didn't score, but he was fresh and he is fit. I don't need to rest him."
Having
failed to net against Almeria, the Portuguese has now scored only once
in his last five appearances for Madrid and he looks to be missing the
creative input of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and, in particular, Luka
Modric.
Ancelotti confirmed that Bale will resume training on
Thursday ahead of Madrid's tough trip to Sevilla on Saturday, while
Benzema should be in shape to face Juventus in Turin next week. Modric,
though, will be out for several more weeks and may not feature again in
2014-15.
But whoever is available, Madrid need their players
rowing in the same direction - not producing petulant gestures. If they
are to win any trophies at the end of this season, the whole squad has
to pull together. And that includes Ronaldo.
