Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Former Real Madrid striker Ronaldo: Results will soon improve

Former Real Madrid striker Ronaldo has backed Zinedine Zidane's side to come through their current run of poor form.

Madrid lost 1-0 at home to Real Betis on Wednesday, despite creating 27 chances, to fall seven points behind Barcelona in the early-season table.

But speaking to Marca, Ronaldo -- who starred for Madrid from 2002 until 2006 -- said: "Last year, there was also something similar [a run of poor results in autumn], and in the end they won La Liga and the Champions League.

"This [the season] has just begun. With three bad games at home doubts start, but there is absolutely no doubt about the team's capacity. We keep expecting their good results to return.

"There are lots of goal scorers in the team. And if there is any problem, I'll get fit myself!"

Meanwhile, current Bernabeu striker Karim Benzema said he believed talk about whether the club needed more attacking options had been sparked by their slow start.

Benzema, who signed a new contract until 2021 this week, has no specialist centre-forward competition following the summer exit of Alvaro Morata to Chelsea.

But he told a news conference: "I don't know if we need more striking options or not -- that is a question for the boss.

"When I'm not on the pitch, Cristiano [Ronaldo] can play in that role, as can the others. We can play different systems, 4-3-3 or a diamond in midfield.

"We're talking about this now because we've had a string of bad results, but we've got a great squad."

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