Zidane: Ronaldo is a beast, he will play on past 34

Liga
Zidane: Ronaldo is a beast, he will play on past 34

Zinedine Zidane insists that there is plenty more to come from Cristiano Ronaldo and called the Portuguese forward a “beast”.

The Real Madrid manager, who retired at 34, said his record goalscorer will play on past that age and revealed he has a certain admiration for the 31-year-old.

The former France midfielder, who is preparing his team for a match with Granada on Sunday, said: "I feel a certain admiration for Cristiano. I admire him for his goals and for everything he has achieved. I like his ambition. He is never satisfied with what he has done, he always wants more.

"He is a super important player for me, for the team and for the fans. I retired at the age of 34, but Cristiano will play on longer. It's not that I did not look after myself, but he takes a lot of care of his own body and is a beast physically."

Zidane, however, will be without one of his other leading lights – Gareth Bale – on Sunday but says the club will not rush him back from a calf injury. "We have decided to take things easy for a bit," added the coach, who recently replaced Rafa Benitez at the Bernabeu. "He is getting better, but he is not fully recovered yet."

With Real sitting third in La Liga, four points behind Barcelona who also have a game in hand, Zidane is still confident his team can win the title. "The players all know we can still win the league," he insisted.

"We all know what the situation is like and that it will be difficult, but we will do everything we can."