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Ramos says he and Ronaldo have different opinions, but pulling in same direction
MADRID: The idea that Real Madrid ended up weakening their squad during the summer transfer window has been mooted by Marcelino but rebutted by Zinedine Zidane.
First it was Cristiano Ronaldo who claimed that the exits of James Rodriguez and Pepe, among others, left a dearth of experience at Los Blancos. Madrid boss Zidane does not feel that way, noting that the Valencia coach is entitled to his opinion and that he doesn’t agree with it.
“I don’t have to think about what others say,” he told reporters. “I don’t care what they say. Everyone can say what they want.” Los Che have the week off given their lack of European competition whereas Real face Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday (today). “I also think that the Real Madrid squad is worse than last season, they’ve lost potential over the last year,” Marcelino had stated on a radio show on Monday morning.
On the other hand, Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has insisted that he and Cristiano Ronaldo still remain friends and have a good working relationship. The centre-back did not agree with Ronaldo’s public statement about how Los Blancos are missing James Rodriguez, Pepe and Alvaro Morata, yet this hasn’t affected their relationship.
“Nothing has ever happened between him and me,” Ramos said in an interview with TVE. “There has always been a great friendship between us.”We have a lot of personality and have some different opinions, but we’re pulling in the same direction,” he said. “He also spoke more generally about Real Madrid’s start to the season and admitted it hasn’t gone as well as he might have hoped,” he said.
“A draw here is seen as a crisis,” the defender said. “We have to remain calm, maintain confidence and go objective by objective,” he said. It may not be the best start to a season ever, but “we’re still there and we will fight for every title,” he said. “I give the fans my word that we will show face to the end and to the death,” he said.
“We hope to come back from [the Club World Cup] with a title because it would be good for the group in terms of motivation. It would do us a lot of good, ahead of the Clasico.” Ramos won’t be available next weekend against Sevilla as a result of his record-breaking red card and he had his say on the refereeing and the forthcoming introduction of VAR.
“I’m in favour of having technology in football, but as long as the essence of football isn’t lost,” he stated. Next up for Ramos and co. is a midweek Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund, although Real Madrid already know they will be finishing second in the group, regardless of this week’s results.