Cristiano Ronaldo Defended by Rafa Benitez After Criticism of Real Madrid Man

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has been defended by his manager Rafael Benitez after coming in for some criticism for failing to get on the scoresheet in Real's first two league fixtures of the season.

According to Marca's Carlos Carpio, Ronaldo's relationship with the manager is "anything but smooth." He struggled in the 0-0 draw with Sporting Gijon and failed to get in on the action as Los Blancos put Real Betis to the sword in the 5-0 win at the Bernabeu, and Carpio said the Portuguese "has found it hard to settle into Benitez's new formation."

However, per Sport, Benitez has leapt to the defence of his talismanic star. He said: "He’s the one who had the most shots on goal, just like in Gijon and that is positive. Nobody doubts his quality. He’s going to score a lot of goals as long as the team creates chances."

ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan noted that Ronaldo's reputation was likely the only thing that kept him on the field in the Gijon match, as well as his dissatisfaction during the win over Betis, in which Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez grabbed braces and Karim Benzema also got on the scoresheet:

The 30-year-old appears to enjoy being Real's main man, so his 8.02 rating from WhoScored.com for the match is unlikely to be of any comfort.

Additionally, Benitez is not currently setting up his side to exploit Ronaldo's prolific talents.

Nevertheless, as the thrashing of Betis showed, Los Blancos are still more than capable of running riot over opposition defences thanks to their vast quantity of attacking talent.

The Ballon d'Or holder scored a stunning 61 goals last season, and despite his early struggles, he is showing little sign of slowing down despite reaching 30. The Guardian's Sid Lowe shared one of the many incredible Ronaldo stats from his time in Spain:

The key takeaway from Benitez's quote is that the Portugal international is still getting on the end of chances and taking shots on goal.

With that being the case, it's only a matter of time before the goal machine gets going at his typically phenomenal pace.

Expect Ronaldo to return from the international break as hungry as ever to get on the scoresheet.