Ronaldo hailed by satisfied Benítez

Rafael Benítez said he knows Cristiano Ronaldo’s “level and value” after yet another hat-trick saw off Shakhtar Donetsk, leaving Mircea Lucescu ruing one costly mistake.

It was a difficult match because Shakhtar know how to control the ball. They didn’t have many opportunities but they are dangerous on the counterattack. It was not a brilliant game but we had lots of chances to score.

I’m satisfied with not having conceded a goal and scored four. I know Cristiano’s level and value. He is the best player in the world and I will repeat this every time you ask me.

Injuries are bad news. The team is quite well physically, but we will have to wait one or two days to see the evolution of [Gareth] Bale’s injury. Sergio [Ramos] and [Raphaël] Varane also have problems but I’m more optimistic about them.

We can talk about the first 30 minutes of the match when we controlled the ball and had a pair of opportunities to score. One mistake [for the opening goal] cost us a lot and Real Madrid scored.

We had control of the play at times but we have to congratulate them on their victory. It’s very difficult to play against Real Madrid with ten men [following Taras Stepanenko’s 50th-minute red card].

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.