Sporting Clube de Portugal vs Real Madrid - Cristiano Ronaldo will put sentiment aside

Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2016 by PA

Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas has backed Cristiano Ronaldo to put sentiment aside when he returns to Lisbon to face former club Sporting in the Champions League.

It was with the Lions that Ronaldo first broke through as a professional and he has returned to his native country with the Champions League holders for a crunch European tie on Tuesday night.

Real missed the chance to qualify for the knock-out stages when they drew 3-3 with Legia Warsaw during the previous round of games, though they can seal their progress, and eliminate Sporting in the process, with just a point in Portugal.

They will hope for two more and will look for talisman Ronaldo to be the difference once again after his treble in the Madrid derby at the weekend.

Speaking to reporters in Lisbon, stopper Navas said of Ronaldo: "It's nice to go home and it's a special game but he always works with the same intensity and desire.

"He's a great professional who is also sentimental, but at a professional level he'll play the game like he always does."

Ronaldo's goals may be needed again given how porous Real have proved at the other end.

They have conceded seven times in four Champions League games, two more than their next opponents, and their defensive shortcomings almost cost them in both the draw with Legia and the victory over Sporting in the reverse fixture.

Only two late goals, one from Ronaldo and the other from Alvaro Morata, spared the Spaniards' blushes on home soil that evening.

However, having achieved back-to-back clean sheets in La Liga, Navas is confident of keeping Tuesday's hosts out this time round.

"I always have faith that we'll win close games by keeping a clean sheet, and as a group we're working really well," the Costa Rican added.

"Clean sheets do not just come from the goalkeeper, everybody must work."

The hiccup in Warsaw ensured Los Blancos enter the penultimate round of fixtures in this competition trailing Borussia Dortmund by two points as the two powerhouses vye for top spot in the group.

Dortmund visit Madrid next month, four days after the Clasico, but Real manager Zinedine Zidane insists he will pay little attention to how the Germans fare against Legia in the group's other fixture on Tuesday.

"I don't look at these permutations," Zidane insisted. "What matters is that we go to win games, we'll do everything to win and afterwards we'll look at the table."

Veteran Sporting coach Jorge Jesus was not at his current club when a more slight Ronaldo arrived on the scene prior to his Manchester United move, but the 62-year-old knows just how dangerous Portugal's all-time leading scorer can be.

"Ronaldo was born to score goals, he is the striker who scores the most goals in the world," Jesus said to MARCA.

"But yes, there are ways to stop someone of his talent. The key is that it has to be done with the help of all of the players. Of course you can prepare for it because when we don't want a player to have any space, we ensure it individually and collectively, as we did in Madrid."