Cristiano Ronaldo is furious that Real Madrid’s Liga clash with Barcelona is being played on Saturday, thus giving his side less time to prepare for the Clasico than their Catalan rivals.
The pair lock horns for the first time this season at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend, three days after Carlo Ancelotti’s side tormented Liverpool in a 3-0 Champions League victory at Anfield.
Barca, meanwhile, were in action 24 hours earlier, beating Ajax 3-1 at Camp Nou to move a step closer to qualifying from Group F.
Imperious forward Ronaldo, who scored his 20th goal of the season on Merseyside, is baffled as to why El Clasico has not been put back a day in the interest of fairness.
“I don’t really understand why we are playing on Saturday after having played tonight [Wednesday],” he told reporters at Anfield. “They don’t take care of the details, and El Clasico is the most important game.
“I don’t get it, big games like El Clasico needs to been looked at in another way – it should really be played on Sunday, not Saturday at 18:00CET. Any professional will tell you that it’s not the same having two days to recover from a game like this than having three days.”
Despite the usual talk of the Clasico being a duel between Ronaldo and Barca’s star forward, Lionel Messi, the 29-year-old Portugese is more concerned about the overall quality of Luis Enrique’s Liga leaders.
“It will be a difficult match because Barcelona are playing well,” the Portuguese said of Luis Enrique’s men, who have not yet conceded in La Liga this season.
“I’m not going to play against Messi, I’m going to play against Barcelona. They are a great team. Real Madrid and Barcelona are playing each other.”
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