Ronaldo targets Real glory

Real Madrid captain Cristiano Ronaldo says his side are driven to break the dominance of arch-rivals Barcelona – both at home and abroad.

El Clasico enemies Barca have cast a long shadow over their La Liga foes in recent years, complementing their three consecutive league titles with the 2009 and 2011 Champions League trophies.

Jose Mourinho’s Real last won La Liga in the 2007/08 campaign, and Portuguese attacker Ronaldo believes the Madrid club’s time to rise above Barca is now.

“We have had this ambition for a couple of years. We are on the way to winning something, but the moment has not come yet,” he said.

“But we are working hard to make this happen. We have to have hope. We have the players, we have a great coach and now we have to have the ambition to win the Champions League.”

The two clubs renew acquaintances in the first leg of the Supercopa de Espana on August 14, and Ronaldo said the two-legged meeting with Barcelona was already on his team-mates’ minds.

“We are just concentrated on the preparation factor and when the game against Barca comes up, we will surely be fully prepared,” he said.

“We have a lot to work on. We are just concentrating on the training. This is what we have to think about.”

Ronaldo was speaking in China, where Real are continuing their pre-season programme with games against Chinese Super League clubs Guangzhou on Wednesday and Tianjin Teda on Saturday.

With off-season signings such as Fabio Coentrao (Benfica) and Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund) still getting to know their team-mates, Ronaldo stressed the importance of the matches.

“(Wednesday) it’s a preparation game that we need to try to win because it’s important, because the victory will help us increase our rhythm (match play) so we can start the season in a better way,” Ronaldo said.

“And this is what we are going to try to do: to play well, to win in a physical way, and start the season in a better way.”