Thaindian News

Madrid, Nov 18 (IANS) Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo has said his focus is back on the Spanish La Liga after helping his national side Portugal qualify for the 2012 European championships.

Two days after scoring two of the goals in the 6-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina that qualified Portugal for the finals of the European Championships, Ronaldo was quoted by sports paper Diario AS as saying that he was once again focused on helping Real Madrid win the Spanish league title, Xinhua reported.

Real Madrid face third placed Valencia Saturday night - their most difficult game of the season to date. They will then entertain their city rivals Atletico Madrid, a fortnight before their first meeting with title rivals FC Barcelona.

“Having qualified for the European Championships allows me to be more relaxed and to concentrate on Real Madrid, because that is what needs all my efforts from now onwards,” said Ronaldo.

“We can’t think about the Barcelona game just yet, because we have to play Valencia and then we take on Atletico. If we don’t win both of those matches, we will not be able to have the calm we need to face Barcelona. We are doing our job bit by bit and we have to carry on like that,” added the striker.

Real Madrid are currently three points clear at the top of the La Liga after winning nine of their 11 games. They have also qualified for the next phase of the Champions League with an all-win record, but Ronaldo insists they have to remain cautious.

“We can’t think we are the strongest side. We are in good shape and we are better than last year as we are more mature as a team and we want to carry on like that,” he added.