MADRID: Zinedine Zidane showed his anger over a five-match ban imposed on Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ron­aldo for pushing the referee in Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup first leg.

Real hold a 3-1 first leg lead going into the second leg against their fierce rivals on Wednesday, but will have to do without Ronaldo.

Ronaldo scored as a substitute in the first leg win at Camp Nou, but he was sent off after he shoved official Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea. The Spanish football federation hit the World Player of the Year with a four-match suspension on top of the automatic one-game ban.

“I am annoyed. We are very annoyed. I’m not going to have a go at the referees, but when you look and see what happened, to think Cristiano is not going to play five games with us … Something happened there, it is infuriating,” Zidane told a news conference on Tuesday.

“What happened, happened, but when you look at what happened and see they have given him five games, it’s a lot. Cristiano is annoyed because he wants to play and when he doesn’t play, he isn’t happy.”

Ronaldo was on the field for just 24 action-packed minutes on Sunday as he was only introduced as a second-half substitute after a curtailed pre-season due to his participation in the Confederations Cup with Portugal.

He made a huge impact with a stunning strike to put Real into a 2-1 lead 10 minutes from time, but unwisely picked up his first yellow card for removing his shirt in celebration.

And two minutes later he was dismissed for diving as he fell inside the area under pressure from Samuel Umtiti.

After he was ordered off, he pushed De Burgos Bengoetxea, which led to the suspension.

Real appealed the suspension and the RFEF committee will respond on Wednesday morning, meaning Ronaldo could feature in the second leg on Wednesday at the Bernabeu.

“We have to wait until tomorrow. The committee meets and after that meeting we will see what we can do,” Zidane said.

Asked if he believed the ban was designed to single out Ronaldo, Zidane said, “I don’t know, I don’t think so and I hope not, I hope they did it with conscious and because they are doing their jobs, but well, in the end what sticks with me is the five games.”

Defender Dani Carvajal defended his team-mate Ronaldo, who he claimed was being harshly punished for his sixth red card in a Real shirt.

“Cristiano’s ban is excessive and a frustrating situation. I’m not in the referee’s head, but he didn’t have to be sent off,” said the Spaniard.

“We’re all upset with the punishment as Cristiano is an important player for us. We hope it’s reduced and he’s back in action soon.”

Should Ronaldo’s appeal not be upheld, he will miss Real’s first four La Liga games of the season against Deportivo la Coruna, Valencia, Levante and Real Sociedad.

However, Zidane insisted he is not desperate to add to his forward line before the transfer window closes on August 31, despite selling strikers Alvaro Morata and Mariano Diaz this summer.

Real have been linked for months with a move for Monaco’s 18-year-old sensation Kylian Mbappe, but look set to be beaten to the Frenchman’s signature by free-spending Paris St Germain.

“Anything can happen between now and August 31, but what I can say is that I am very happy with the players I have,” said Zidane.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2017