Zinedine Zidane: 'Cristiano Ronaldo needed a rest'

Zinedine Zidane has explained his reasoning behind substituting Cristiano Ronaldo in Real Madrid's 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid, putting it down to the fear of fatigue.

The Portugal international was taken off 64 minutes into the derby clash, shortly after Antoine Griezmann had levelled things up at the Bernabeu.

Ronaldo's withdrawal was made all the more surprising by the fact that he had opened the scoring for his side, making it 20 goals in his last 10 matches.

Asked about the seemingly pre-planned sub, Zidane told reporters after the match: "It was just to rest. We have many games, that's it. Sometimes he needs to rest.

"Cristiano is Cristiano, he has been this player all his life, scoring 50 goals a season. True, nobody else does that. But others can score, have done recently, and we must think about the positives."

Madrid face Juventus on Wednesday night in the Champions League quarter-finals, protecting a three-goal lead from the first leg.