Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that he does not believe himself to be better than any of his Real Madrid teammates after comments he made in the wake of yesterday's defeat to City rivals Atletico.

The striker appeared to criticise teammates Lucas Vazquez, Jese Rodriguez and Borja Mayoral by telling reporters: "If everyone was as good as me, maybe we would be first. I do not want to belittle anyone but when they are not the best it is difficult to win."

Now, in an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, Ronaldo claimed that he was purely referring to players' fitness levels.

"When I said this I was referring to my level of fitness, not play," he said. "I am not better than any of my teammates."

The defeat saw Atletico go four points ahead of Real, who are now nine points off leaders Barcelona.