Cristiano Ronaldo left covered in blood after being whacked in face by Czech keeper in Portugal’s Nations League clash
CRISTIANO RONALDO was left in a bloodied mess following a collision with Czech Republic keeper Tomas Vaclik.
The Manchester United forward suffered the painful injury inside the opening 12 minutes after challenging for an aerial ball.
Ronaldo collided with the leaping Vaclik, whose arms smashed into the Portugal legend, leaving him on a heap on the floor.
The striker was left needing medical assistance but later returned onto the pitch with a bandage on his nose.
His club-mates Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes went on to give Portugal a 2-0 half-time lead at the Sinobo stadium.
Ronaldo was in the thick of the action again when he gave away a penalty for a handball just before the break, although Patrik Schick missed from the spot.
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Fernandes was recently forced to slam accusations that he and Ronaldo do not play well together.
He said: “Most of my assists last season were for him, so I don’t think (it is fair).
“I just had a poor season in terms of my own numbers. I don’t think it is about Cristiano.
“Before he came I was taking the penalties but I had two chances to take them last season and I missed both.
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“So I cannot blame Cristiano for taking penalties, especially when he scores them.
“When I missed against Arsenal in April, it was him who gave me the ball and said, ‘Go yourself and score’.
“I missed but I felt that he trusted me to be the one to step up in the big moment.
“So I don’t think it is because of Cristiano, it is because I didn’t do the best in myself in some moments to get goals or assists. In the national team I play with him and when I score, he is on the pitch.
“To play with Cristiano as a No 10 is actually really good because players respect him so much that it creates more space, as the opponents are afraid of him taking the ball and scoring.
“They want to mark him and they create an overload where he is to mark him.
“When I scored two goals against North Macedonia (in March’s World Cup play-off), one was from his assist and the other was from his run, which created the space behind him for me to score.
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“I played the last four Premier League games without Cristiano starting and I scored only one goal.
“So it is not because of Cristiano. Sometimes it goes in a bad way and sometimes a better way.”
