Sunday 11 September 2016 09:59, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo marked his return from the knee injury which saw him limp out of the Euro 2016 final with a blast at former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi.
Ronaldo, who starred in Real Madrid's 5-2 La Liga win over Osasuna on Saturday, was incensed by Xavi's comments this week about how the Portugal forward failed to match up to fellow multiple Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.
Xavi brought an end to his Barcelona career last season and signed for Qatari side Al Sadd, something that did not escape Ronaldo's attention in a withering response.
In quotes attributed to the Spanish newspaper Marca, Ronaldo said: "I'm the most searched player on the internet. Anyone who wants free publicity or media attention talks about me.
"I couldn't care less what Xavi says about me, he plays in Qatar or I don't even know where.
"He's won every collective trophy, including a World Cup and the European Championship, but he's never won a Ballon d'Or."
Ronaldo took just six minutes to mark his return with a goal as he converted a Gareth Bale cross to set his side on their way to maintaining their 100 per cent start to the new campaign.
Danilo, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Luka Modric were also on the scoresheet for Zinedine Zidane's men, while Osasuna, who had Cayetano Bonnin sent off for a second yellow card in the 79th minute, rallied late through Oriol Riera and David Garcia.
Reflecting on the decision to bring Ronaldo back into the starting line-up, Zidane told the club's official website: "I didn't come to any agreement with him, he was happy to be with us.
"I enjoyed seeing Cristiano in action, just like everyone else. I want to always have him here with us.
"He played an hour today and we'll have to see whether he plays on Wednesday. It had been almost 60 days since his last game and now we've got seven games in 21 days and we've got to be wary of that."
Real's furious run of fixtures continues with Wednesday night's Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon back at the Bernabeu, and Zidane said he would keep making the most of his whole squad in the busy period.
He added: "After the international break I needed to think about rotating things. There are a lot of games coming up and we've got very good strength in depth and good players.
"We've got another game on Wednesday and we'll have to see what we do in that one. We'll be looking to continue this good run, try to win the game and we'll be giving our all in every match."
