Cristiano Ronaldo Comments on Shakhtar Thriller, Real Madrid's Clasico Reaction

Real Madrid's victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday was necessary for Los Blancos to recover from their 4-0 thrashing by Barcelona at the weekend, according to star man Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese forward netted twice as Real cruised to a 4-0 lead in the Champions League group clash before conceding three goals in the final 15 minutes as Shakhtar almost pulled off a remarkable comeback.

Ronaldo admitted after the 4-3 victory that Los Blancos were poor in the closing minutes but said overall they were happy with bouncing back from their Clasico humbling, per beIN Sports (via AS).

"We’re happy with the win," he said. "It’s what we aimed for before the game. The team is fine, with more confidence after securing maximum points here. We needed to recover after the game against Barcelona and this was a good game."

Ronaldo was something of a peripheral figure against Barca, but he responded with a brilliant display against Shakhtar, per Squawka:

The defeat of the Ukrainian outfit ensured that Real progress to the last 16 in the Champions League as Group A winners, a potentially crucial achievement when it comes to the draw.

Rafael Benitez's side looked average against Barcelona, and as a result, they dropped significantly down Bleacher Report's European club rankings, per lead football writer Sam Tighe:

However, their performance against Shakhtar—for the first 75 minutes—showed they have not become a bad team overnight.

Manager Benitez will undoubtedly have been concerned to see his side concede three late goals, but the positives outweighed the negatives at the Lviv Arena.

SERGEI SUPINSKY/Getty Images

Not only did Ronaldo look back to his best, but Gareth Bale also put in a fine performance, as he set up the Portuguese for both his goals.

With the Madrid outfit now six points back from Barca in La Liga, they need to take their form into the weekend and pick up a victory over Eibar on Sunday.

The season has not even reached the halfway stage, and although the defeat to Barcelona will have hurt Madrid, there is plenty of time for them to claw back to level terms.