Rafael Benitez: 'Cristiano Ronaldo is indisputable'

Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez has said that Cristiano Ronaldo is the one "indisputable player" in his first-team squad.

The 30-year-old failed to score in his first two league games of the new season, but then struck five in the 6-0 win at Espanyol on September 12.

In total, Ronaldo has netted 321 goals in 305 games for Los Blancos and Benitez has refused to play down the importance of the Portuguese international.

"The players know that Cristiano scores 50 goals a season. He makes the difference," Benitez told reporters.

"There is one indisputable player, which is Cristiano. From there, we assess who is well and who is not. Cristiano manages his exertions well. As of today he is pretty good physically.

"What I want is to win. I am not obsessed with Cristiano scoring five goals or [Keylor] Navas not conceding. I have never thought about favouring anyone apart from the team."

Ronaldo had his best ever scoring season last term, netting 61 goals in 54 games for the Spanish giants.