Ronaldo injured in Portugal win

Cristiano Ronaldo may have played a game too early, with his ankle strain turning into soemthing much more serious after playing a full match for Portugal on it. Thankfully, Portugal won, and need to beat Malta at home to secure a playoff spot.

Ronaldo is calm on what comes next, and just wants to be back asap.

"I felt very good, but I wasn't at 100%, I had a bit of discomfort," he said. "But I wanted to push myself to help my country go to the World Cup. I'm upset because I was in a good period of form and so being injured again is something that affects me even more. I'm not the country's savour, but after the defeat against Sevilla, I wanted to help my Real Madrid team-mates win the next few games."

"I will work very hard to try to shorten the length of time I'm out, even though now what's important is to recuperate perfectly so as not to return to having problems," Ronaldo said. "It's a different injury to that which I was operated on. It's got nothing to do with that.

"I'm calm because I know that with the desire I have to get better and the good work of the physiotherapists at Madrid everything will go very well."

Ronaldo's absence will be a big blow to Real, as the 24-year-old has scored nine goals in seven competitive games since moving from Manchester United in the summer. Real's dependence on him was evident as they lost their first match without him.