Las Palmas snags a point after Cristiano Ronaldo substitution
Substituting Cristiano Ronaldo was the correct decision made by Zinedine Zidane. The Frenchman has to think about what’s best for the football club first and foremost.
With 18 minutes remaining in Saturday’s match against Las Palmas, Zinedine Zidane hauled off his star forward Cristiano Ronaldo while ahead 2-1.
Zidane defended his decision to withdrawing the Portuguese international and sending on Lucas Vasquez.
“It was not that [Ronaldo] was playing badly,” Zidane told reporters after the match. “We are playing on Tuesday and Cristiano must rest too sometimes. It was just for that. He was playing well. Tonight I took him off thinking of Tuesday’s game.”
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner recently came back from a knee injury that kept him out all pre-season, and his manager opted to protect the 31-year-old, which Ronaldo wasn’t too pleased with.
“Angry? That would be your interpretation. He always wants to be on the pitch. We have to take him out sometimes, and we did today. It does not change anything.”
Karim Benzema’s goal in the 67th minute off of Ronaldo’s shot looked like the match winner until Sergio Araujo leveled the score 2-2 for the Canary Islanders.
“We had many chances in the first half tonight, also in the second,” said Zidane. “I do not believe we lacked hunger — just the opposite. We started well, pressing high, we did what we had prepared. But when they score twice — well something has happened, and we must analyse it.
“The second goal was not just one player’s mistake, it was a bit of everything. The team are working well, are committed to what we are doing. In football you cannot always win, but we are on the right path and we have a game on Tuesday which is coming up soon.”
Zidane’s shouldn’t be criticized for his decision to protect Ronaldo as the forward works his way back to full fitness. It’s understandable the Real Madrid Galactico is always keen on playing every single minute because of his competitive spirit, but he has to fathom the importance of resting and Zidane making decisions that are best for Real Madrid.
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