Ronaldo’s two-match suspenson upheld

Real Madrid have lost their appeal against the two-match suspension handed to Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese star was shown a red card against Malaga.

The 24-year-old star said that there was ‘absolutely no intent’ to injure Patrick Mtiliga during the incident, where Ronaldo appeared to strike the Malaga player in the head as he tried to break free.

Ronaldo had scored both of Real Madrid’s goals during their 2-0 win over Malaga at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, before being shown a straight red card for the incident in the 70th minute.

The Spanish Football Federation today confirmed that Ronaldo’s automatic two-game ban would stand meaning that the former Manchester United winger will now sit out of Real’s league games against Deportivo La Coruña and Espanyol.

The Real Madrid number nine’s red card on Saturday marked his second sending off during his time in Spain. He was first given his marching orders when he received a second yellow card during Madrid’s 4-2 victory against Almeria in December.

Ronaldo’s form in Spain since his record-breaking £80 million transfer has been impressive, with the winger seemingly taking no time to adapt to the Spanish game.

He has bagged nine goals in just 12 appearances, scoring from the spot on his debut against Deportivo La Coruña.