Laporta leaps to Ronaldo defence

Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta has defended Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the wake of claims he is unhappy at the Liga champions.

The Portugal international has been accused of trying to get himself a new and improved deal by publicly declaring his unhappiness at Madrid, but Laporta feels the attacker is under a lot of pressure and will not have realised the impact of his actions.

“Everyone is going over the top on him. We must understand he’s under a lot of pressure and is human, because we all are affected by everything around us,” Laporta told AS.

“He said something without realising the impact it would make. That’s happened to me as well in the past. The important thing is that he said it because that’s how he feels.

“Cristiano is a great professional. It’s not easy to speak up and say how you feel when you’re clearly under a lot of pressure. It’s up to Madrid to make him happy again in the best way possible.”

The 27-year-old is under contract with Real until June 2015.