Ronaldo unimpressed by Barca

Published Nov. 21, 2010 11:58 a.m. ET

foxsports

Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo paid little heed to Barcelona's eight-goal defeat of Almeria as Barca warmed up for next week's 'clasico.'

Barca equalled a 51-year-old club record for their biggest away victory in La Liga by demolishing Almeria 8-0 at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos on Saturday night.

That result saw Pep Guardiola's side briefly take over top spot in La Liga, but Madrid reclaimed pole position after thumping Athletic Bilbao 5-1 at the Bernabeu in the evening's late match.

Ronaldo appeared far from concerned about Barca's result, saying: "The 8-0 at Almeria doesn't tell me anything, lets see if they score eight goals against us on Monday."

Aside from pitting the top two teams in La Liga against each other, El Clasico should also see the two leading goalscorers in the division go head to head.

Barca ace Lionel Messi took his tally to 13 for the season with a hat-trick against Almeria, but Ronaldo then did likewise against Athletic to stay one goal clear on 14.

Despite that impressive tally, Ronaldo insists his main aim for the season is team success rather than individual glory.

He said: "We are very happy for the win and I'm also very happy for scoring three goals, but the important thing is that we continue being leaders.

"I'm fighting to win the league, not for the Pichichi (leading goalscorer in La Liga)."

Ronaldo might have been celebrating another goal against Athletic if he had taken the 57th-minute spot-kick awarded to his side.

The Portugal international is Madrid's regular penalty-taker and scored from the spot in injury-time to complete his hat-trick, but for the first kick it was, rather surprisingly, defender Sergio Ramos who stepped up.

Ramos duly slotted his penalty into the top corner to put Madrid 3-1 up, and Ronaldo said afterwards: "Sergio told me to leave it to him and I'm not going to argue with him over a penalty. He's my team-mate and a great friend. The goal will help Sergio gain more confidence."

Ramos said of the incident in AS: "On the pitch everyone was surprised. There's usually an order, but I was confident and had a thorn in my side because I hadn't scored and normally I have a decent goal average.

"I hope this is the start of a good run."