Ronaldo hits his 39th of the season
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Cristiano Ronaldo will go in search of his 40th goal of the season in all competitions on Wednesday night against Tottenham after scoring in Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
But his most difficult task could be making the starting line-up as Jose Mourinho rests players just three days before they face Barcelona in La Liga.
The Real coach showed off the size, strength in depth and fitness of his squad last night by resting half the team who demolished Tottenham 4-0 in the first leg and still saw his side win comfortably.
Ronaldo came off the bench to score his 28th league goal of the campaign, leaving him just 10 short of Hugo Sanchez's record haul for a season of 38.
Emmanuel Adebayor, Marcelo, Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Ozil were also left out last night, allowing Brazil midfielder Kaka to take centre stage, scoring twice from the spot before Ronaldo scored the third.
Kaka's return leaves Mourinho with a fully fit squad - even France striker Karim Benzema is now available after recovering from a thigh strain.
A good night for Mourinho looked like getting even better when Barcelona fell behind 1-0 to Almeria in their game, played immediately after Madrid's.
But Leo Messi equalised with a penalty, Thiago Alcantara headed in the Argentine's corner and Messi scored again in the last minute as Barca won 3-1. He is top scorer in La Liga, on 29, one ahead of Ronaldo.
