Ronaldo plays down injury concern

The Portuguese was seen limping off minutes before the end of Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Villarreal on Wednesday

MADRID: Three-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo has eased concerns he suffered a significant hamstring injury after limping off minutes before the end of Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Villarreal on Wednesday.

"All good. Thanks for your support," Ronaldo posted to his over 55 million followers on social media network Instagram on Thursday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEdX7zJhpUX/?hl=en

Madrid sports daily Marca reported that Ronaldo remains a serious doubt for Saturday's trip to Rayo Vallecano with Real keen to protect the Portuguese for next week's Champions League semi-final first leg away at Manchester City.

Before hobbling off towards the end of Madrid's eighth consecutive La Liga win to remain just a point behind leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, Ronaldo had played all but one minute of Real's previous 43 La Liga and Champions League games this season.



And Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane admitted he should have taken more precaution to rest the 47-goal forward in recent weeks.

"I am calmer now than when I saw him leave the pitch," said Zidane.

"For a coach when you have a player like Cristiano sometimes it is necessary for him to not play a game or not finish a match."



On a brighter note for Real, Gareth Bale returned to training on Thursday after missing the Villarreal clash through injury.