Cristiano Ronaldo Offers Astonishing Defence of Alleged Kick at Nacho Cases

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed had he intended to kick Sporting Gijon's Nacho Cases during their match on Sunday, then the midfielder may have been down for a while.

The Portuguese became entangled with Cases during the game and swung a leg in his direction as a result. Some claim the 30-year-old should have been given his marching orders for the incident, but Ronaldo sought to play down the significance of the flashpoint in the aftermath.

“It was instinctive,” said the forward, per Marca. “They could have shown me a yellow card. If I'd set out to kick him, he wouldn't have been able to get up.”

Here’s a reminder of the controversial moment:

On the field it was a good day for Ronaldo, as he notched a brace and his team secured a comfortable 5-1 win. The Portuguese seemed much more at ease than he has been in recent weeks too, with new manager Zinedine Zidane enjoying another comfortable victory in what was his second game in charge of the club.

Although rightly revered for his supreme goalscoring, Ronaldo has occasionally been known to let his temper get the better of him. In his career he has been sent off nine times in total, the most recent coming in January 2015 against Cordoba in a La Liga clash.