'If teammates were on my level, Real Madrid would be top': Recalling what Ronaldo said about his teammates after losing Madrid derby

Cristiano Ronaldo's winning mentality also means that he doesn't take losses well, and this was also the case during his days at Real Madrid.

After his team lost the derby to Atletico Madrid in 2016 -- which put them 9 points behind league-leaders Barcelona -- the Portuguese striker was highly critical towards some of his teammates in the press.

"If everyone had my level, we’d be first. Every year, according to the press, it seems I’m rubbish, but the numbers and statistics don’t lie," Cristiano said.

"I don’t want to disparage anyone, any team-mate, but when the best are not there it’s difficult to win. I like playing with Pepe, with Karim Benzema, with Gareth Bale, with Marcelo.

"I don’t mean Jese, Lucas Vazquez, Mateo Kovacic aren’t good, they’re very good, 

"I don’t know if it was poor preparation in the first half of the season but we’re having a lot of injuries and that hurts us. We had more chances and we deserved to win but football is like that."

Of course, Ronaldo saw injuries as Madrid's key players the main problem, but this still does not excuse his dismissive attitude towards his other teammates.

Out of the players Cristiano mentioned, only Lucas Vazquez is still at the club.