Zidane: No rest for Ronaldo

Zinedine Zidane has no intention of resting Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese star continues to fuel Real Madrid’s fight for silverware on two fronts.

Ronaldo scored an incredible hat-trick to turn a 2-0 deficit after the first leg of Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final against Wolfsburg into a 3-2 aggregate win at the Santiago Bernabeu.

And while Zidane substituted the likes of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, he never had any intention of doing the same with Ronaldo during the trip to Getafe.

Ronaldo rewarded the Frenchman’s faith with another goal as Madrid prevailed 5-1.

The goal was Ronaldo’s 31st in La Liga this season as he closes in on his fourth Pichichi Trophy and as long as the goals keep flying in, Zidane sees no reason to rest his star.

“We rested Karim and Gareth but not Ronaldo,” Zidane said.

“He was playing well and we didn’t see a reason to do so.”

But while Ronaldo is unlikely to be rested anytime soon, Zidane is comforted by the performances of some of his stand-ins, such as Isco and James Rodriguez, with both scoring in the win.

“I am very happy with them because it is not easy,” he said.

“What I like and what’s important for the team is that when they have the opportunity to play, they do it well.”