Real Madrid have moved to ease any fears that Cristiano Ronaldo may be forced to sit out a Clasico clash with Lionel Messi and Barcelona.
It had been suggested that the Portuguese superstar could miss Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated La Liga encounter at Santiago Bernabeu through injury.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been forced to work away from Zinedine Zidane’s main group during preparations for the biggest fixture in the Spanish top-flight.
Goal, however, revealed earlier on Thursday that Real remained confident that there talismanic forward would feature against Barca, and the club’s latest training video suggests Ronaldo will be raring to go.
@Cristiano pic.twitter.com/54Acv1PkhI
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) December 21, 2017
Real will be desperate for Ronaldo to figure against their arch-rivals, as they endeavour to get a faltering La Liga title defence back on track.
Barca will head to the Spanish capital perched at the top of the table, 11 points clear of their old adversaries in fourth.
Ernesto Valverde’s side are yet to suffer a domestic defeat this season, with 13 victories and three draws collected from 16 outings so far.
In contrast, Real have come unstuck on two occasions and been held in four other fixtures.
Ronaldo’s struggle for goals after serving an early five-match ban was partly responsible for their stumbles, but he has looked more like his usual self of late.
The current holder of the FIFA Best Award and prestigious Ballon d’Or has found the target eight times in his last seven appearances, taking his tally for the season to 16.
Eternal rival Messi has two more efforts to his name at Barcelona and a personal duel between two all-time greats will once again provide an intriguing subplot if Ronaldo is to grace the Bernabeu this weekend.
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