Cristiano Ronaldo walked out of Real Madrid's Champions League press conference on Tuesday after reacting angrily to a question about his recent lack of away goals. The incident occurred on the eve of their last-16 first-leg tie with Roma.
Ronaldo, who broke the competition's record for most goals in the group stage this season with 11, is the Champions League's all-time top scorer with 88 goals in 121 appearances. He became upset when asked why he had not scored on the road since Real Madrid's 2-0 La Liga victory at Eibar on 29 November.
“Who else has scored more goals away from home than me since I arrived in Spain?” Ronaldo said. “Name one player who has scored more than me? No answer? OK. Thank you everyone,” he added before excusing himself from the press conference.
Ronaldo has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season – 21 at home and 11 away. He has featured in four away games since his goal against Eibar without finding the net, struggling in recent La Liga matches against Real Betis and Granada. Earlier, he had said, “It's understandable that people have doubts. It's like with a son when you give him everything and then when you take it away, he cries. I hope I can keep this 'bad form' up until the season's end.”
Manager Zinedine Zidane reaffirmed Ronaldo's importance to Real after he scored twice in a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. “Cristiano is very important on the wing because when he attacks one on one he’s very good, he’s very hard to defend against,” Zidane said. The manager will hope Ronaldo can grab his first away goal since November against a Roma side who conceded 16 goals in the group stage, more than any other team to reach the last 16.
