Asked if he liked the kind of football Madrid had played in the turbulent 2-0 defeat in the Champions League semi-final first leg, the £80m winger said: "No, I don't like it but I have to adapt to what is asked of me." He added: "This is the way it is. We have a strategy."
Ronaldo cut a picture of frustration. Having initially been asked to play as a lone striker, he was seen imploring his reluctant team-mates to get forward and support him. When he was then switched to the right to take on Carles Puyol, who was being played out of position at left-back, he found himself starved of the ball as Mourinho's side pursued their policy of containment. "Being honest, it is true that we did not have a shot on target when it was 11 against 11 but 0-0 is not a bad result at home. We could have gone [to Camp Nou] and scored. We didn't play well but the game was under control." Before the match, the talk was of a head-to-head with Leo Messi over who could lay claim to being the world's greatest player but in the event the Portuguese winger found himself overshadowed.
