Madrid: Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane says his talisman Cristiano Ronaldo will be fit for the Champions League final against Liverpool in a week’s time.
Ronaldo, 33, has been sidelined from the Los Blancos squad after spraining his ankle during the 2-2 El Clasico draw with Barcelona earlier this month but is expected to make a comeback against Villarreal in the ultimate match of La Liga for a warm up.
“Right now he is 120%,” said Zidane about the Portuguese.
“He is fine. If Cristiano is 120% that’s fine with me.”
Real is looking for a straight third Champions League under Zidane. In La Liga they are currently three points behind Europa League winners Atletico Madrid.
Back on track ??? pic.twitter.com/WkhDmp8rAZ
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) May 12, 2018
Zidane responded to the speculations that Gareth Bale will get a place in the starting line up in Kiev.
“I’m not going to tell anybody the line-up in Kiev until the game comes. Bale is playing better and training well. When a player is scoring goals, you can say he’s playing better. Physically, everyone looks great. It’s crucial to have everyone fit, I’m just disappointed for the guys who are going to miss out on these two games”.
The Frenchman added that it would be “huge” for his side to win the Champions League for a third consecutive year, which would see him join Carlo Ancelotti and Bob Paisley as the only manager to win three European titles.
Ancelotti won the 2003 and 2007 titles with AC Milan before leading Real Madrid to the 2014 trophy, while Paisley won the European Cup with Liverpool in 1977, 1978 and 1981.
“It would mean a lot of things,” said Zidane. “It’s huge. It means a lot, above all that the work we’re doing here is good and we’ve got through to the players as we wanted. The players are very hungry to go on winning and they’ve shown that. It’s fantastic to have started my coaching career at such a high level. I focus on my day-to-day work and the only final I’m interested in is this year’s, I’m not interested in the previous ones”. The former Galactico said in the pre-match press conference.