After question marks emerged about his fitness earlier in the week, Cristiano Ronaldo returns to training for Real Madrid ahead of El Clásico.
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to training on Friday ahead of Real Madrid’s must-win El Clásico against FC Barcelona. That’s a great sign for Real Madrid. Barca have been stingy in defense, and Madrid will need the Portuguese attacker to be in tip top shape if they want to break down Barca’s back line.
Ronaldo had missed two consecutive training sessions in the lead-up to this match, leading to some speculation about whether or not Ronaldo would be able to take part in this fixture.
Last season, Zidane earned praise for carefully managing Cristiano Ronaldo’s minutes throughout the tail end of the season. Ronaldo rarely traveled to the bottom-dwellers of La Liga, with Zidane opting to roll out his famed B-Squad, giving CR7 an opportunity to rest.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ronaldo’s absence from the training sessions isn’t a way for Zidane to extend this philosophy during this busy part of the season. Ronaldo did miss an extended period of time at the beginning of the season due to his five-match ban. But since coming back, Ronaldo has been a much-needed member of the squad, and has taken full part in the Champions League, La Liga, and Club World Cup.
It’s true that Ronaldo experienced some discomfort in the calf in the Club World Cup final against Gremio. Chances are, Ronaldo just needed to give his body a few days rest to be up to full fitness to square off against Barcelona.
Zidane has the rare treat of having his full squad healthy and available for selection against Barcelona. It will be interesting to see how Zidane lines up his attacking players. Bale looks to have finally recovered from his injury issues, and could feature in the starting lineup.
But Zidane may instead opt to leave Bale on the bench so that he can impact the later end of the match, as he did in the Club World Cup. If Zidane does sit Bale, then he has one of Isco, Asensio, and Vazquez to choose from, with Isco the most likely candidate to play behind Ronaldo and Benzema in the diamond.
Either way, it’s certain that Ronaldo will feature in El Clásico. Now, let’s just hope that he can make a big impact.
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