Ronaldo says he is not Real Madrid´s ´saviour´

Real Madrid’s Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been sidelined with an ankle sprain for most of the past month, said Thursday he is not the Spanish club’s “saviour”.

“We’re not going through a great moment but I’m also not the saviour of the nation,” the 24-year-old told reporters when asked about the string of losses which the club have suffered in his absence.

Real have suffered three losses without the 94-million-euro signing, including a 4-0 Spanish Cup rout away to third-division club Alcorcon on Tuesday which have led to calls for the resignation of coach Manuel Pellegrini.

“We lost, nobody’s happy, nobody expected it, the team did not play well, but we have to raise our heads. The world is not going to end because of that,” Ronaldo added.

Ronaldo has been injured ever since Real’s 3-0 Champions League win over Marseille at the end of September when he was tackled by the French side’s Senegalese defender Souleymane Diawara.

At the time the club said the player would likely be out for between three and four weeks but Ronaldo aggravated the injury during Portugal’s 3-0 victory over Hungary on October 10 when he limped off the pitch after just 27 minutes.

Real said Wednesday that Ronaldo would have to undergo further medical tests in a week before the can return to the pitch, meaning he will miss the club’s Champions League match at AC Milan on Tuesday as well as its Spanish league match against Getafe on Saturday.

“I’m a little anxious to get back to playing because that’s what I like most, playing and helping the team,” he said.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who spent 250 million euros on new signings like Ronaldo in the pre-season, appealed for calm on Wednesday in the wake of the club’s shock loss to Alcorcon.

“There has to be calm and patience, even though the defeat in Alcorcon was humiliating. The history of Real Madrid is more than one game, which shouldn’t be exaggerated or create unrest,” he said.

“We’ve only had two months of competition. The coach is new, he has a different system to last year and there are many new players. You have to give the team time to fit together and I’m sure the results will arrive.”

Real midfielder Esteban Granero said the squad was fully behind Pellegrini, who joined the club in June from Spanish side Villarreal.

“We back the coach until the death. We have confidence in his ideas and we do not hold him responsible for the Cup loss. We are going to give it out all against Getafe, we are Real and we have our prestige to defend,” he said.