Ronaldo confirms he suffered 'no relapse' in injury return

Cristiano Ronaldo said he didn’t suffer a relapse of his thigh injury in Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday. 

The Portuguese international had missed the last three games, but returned to feature in the Champions League semi-final success at the Bernabeu. 

“I didn’t suffer a relapse of my injury,” he confirmed after the game. 

As for the win, which put Madrid into the Champions League final against rivals Atletico Madrid, Ronaldo was happy with his side’s performance.  

He added: “It was a complete game, the team played really well and we could have finished them off with a second goal. 

“It was a tight scoreline but it’s enough. We worked really hard and we’re in the final. We knew we had to score; in the first leg we deserved to score. 

“I think that we were the better team and we deserve to be in the final.”

On a second final in three years against Atletico, the 31-year-old is expecting a close encounter.  

“It’s a final and it’s going to be even,” he said. “The fact we’re from the same league shows the quality of our domestic competition.”

Finally, he praised the work being done by Zinedine Zidane, who took over in January and has led the club to the Champions League final and kept them in the title race. 

“Zidane is doing a great job. He’s helping us and we are helping him,” Ronaldo said. 

“I admire him as a coach and a person, I hope he continues in the job. 

“We’ve always been behind Zidane because he is a humble person who likes to listen, and that always makes things easier.”