Scoreline flattered Tottenham, says 'irritated' Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo refused to give credit to Tottenham for beating Real Madrid and claimed their 3-1 win did not reflect the game.

Spurs qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League with an emphatic victory over the holders but Ronaldo insisted they had enjoyed the rub of the green.

The world player of the year, who scored Madrid’s goal, correctly pointed out that Kieran Trippier had been offside when he received the pass from Harry Winks that led to Dele Alli’s opening goal.

Ronaldo (below) said: “It was a very big blow to go 3-0 down, although for me it wasn’t a good reflection of what happened on the pitch.

“Their first goal was offside, just like the other day. Our attitude is to run and fight, like at Girona [where Madrid lost 2-1 last weekend].

“It’s a bad time because we’re losing and we’re used to winning. But we want to change it and I’m sure we will. This is the beginning, we still have a lot of time to improve.

“No harm has been done but bad runs aren’t good. We aren’t as we’d like to be. I don’t see things to be so bad but we have to be confident.

“When you don’t win, people try to look for things but I’m here talking, showing my face for my team-mates, and I’m confident things will change.

“It’s normal to be irritated in these situations. When you’re losing, things don’t go the way you want them to and you want to help your team-mates.”

Madrid are still on course for qualification but the result was a shock to the team who have won the Champions League three times in the last four seasons. Yet Ronaldo believes the squad is weaker now than when Real defeated Juventus 4-1 in last season’s final.

Alvaro Morata left for Chelsea and James Rodriguez moved on loan to Bayern Munich, while Pepe joined Besiktas. To make matters worse, Gareth Bale, Raphael Varane, Keylor Navas and Dani Carvajal missed last night’s game through injury.

Ronaldo added: “The players who arrived this summer have potential. Pepe, Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez made us stronger but those in the squad today are younger. We also need Carvajal and Bale back.

“It is not a worse squad but it has less experience and that is very important.”