AS: Ronaldo also explained comments to team-mates in private
As planned, Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo took advantage of Monday's training session to meet with his team-mates and to try to minimise the damage made by his quotes after Saturday's derby defeat to Atletico.
The Portuguese player, who had already sent a WhatsApp message on Saturday justifying his words, insisted that he didn't want to look down on his team-mates and tried to justify his comments with the same excuse he used over the weekend.
According to Diario AS, Ronaldo re-iterated that when he said "if everyone was at my level, we would be top," he didn't mean on ability. "They misinterpreted me," he said among the intimacy of the dressing room.
The reality is that his words were not received well at the Santiago Bernabeu - which is why he felt the need to immediately apologise to try and reduce the bad feeling, although he's not managed to do that.
His tough criticism has not gone down well with the squad or the board. The player has not actually said sorry, instead saying: "When I said what I said I was referring to physical levels, not ability. I am not better than any of my team-mates." It may be too late.
